Method and sources

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What this test is

Sleep Test is a self-report tool for reflecting on sleep and habits. It is not a diagnostic tool and cannot determine whether you have a disease or sleep disorder. Contact a healthcare professional if you are concerned.

Domains and questions

The test covers eleven domains. We ask everyone question q42 about restless legs. It only gives a separate signal, not an area score.

Sleep pattern and duration

  • q1: I sleep less than I need most nights.
  • q2: My sleep times vary a lot from day to day.
  • q3: I take long or late naps that disturb the night.

Falling asleep and nighttime waking

  • q4: It takes me a long time to fall asleep after going to bed.
  • q5: I wake up several times during the night.
  • q6: I wake too early and can’t get back to sleep.
  • q7: I don’t feel refreshed in the morning.
  • q8: My sleep problems affect my mood, focus or energy during the day.

Sleep quality and satisfaction

  • q9: My sleep often feels poor overall.
  • q10: I am dissatisfied with my sleep.
  • q11: My nights are often restless (nightmares, restlessness, pain).

Daytime sleepiness

  • q12: I doze easily in calm situations (TV, reading, passenger).
  • q13: I struggle to stay awake when I must concentrate.
  • q14: I fight tiredness for large parts of the day.

Sleep habits and routines

  • q15: I use screens right before bedtime.
  • q16: I drink coffee or energy drinks late in the day.
  • q17: I drink alcohol near bedtime.
  • q18: I eat large meals late in the evening.
  • q19: I exercise hard right before bedtime.
  • q38: How often do you drink energy drinks (like Monster or Red Bull) to stay awake or get through the day?
  • q39: How often do you drink energy drinks in the afternoon or evening, after about 3–4 PM?

Sleep environment

  • q20: My bedroom is often too bright, too noisy or not comfortable in temperature.
  • q21: My bed or pillow feels uncomfortable.
  • q22: I work or watch TV in bed, and find it harder to associate bed with sleep.

Snoring and breathing signals

  • q23: I snore loudly.
  • q24: Others have observed breathing pauses when I sleep.
  • q25: I’m very sleepy in the daytime even after a normal night.

Mental calm and stress

  • q31: My mind feels busy or racing when I try to fall asleep.
  • q32: Worrying or overthinking keeps me from falling asleep.
  • q33: Stress in my daily life clearly affects my sleep.
  • q34: I feel tense, restless or wound up when trying to sleep.

Lifestyle and blood pressure

  • q26: I often eat foods high in salt (e.g., ready meals, snacks, salty spreads).
  • q27: I am not very physically active in daily life.
  • q28: I drink alcohol more often or in larger amounts than recommended.
  • q29: I experience a lot of stress in everyday life.
  • q30: I consider myself overweight.

Circadian rhythm and shift work

  • q35: I naturally feel more alert in the evening than in the morning.
  • q36: I frequently work night shifts or rotating shifts.
  • q37: I often have to sleep at times that don’t suit my body.

Hormonal phases

  • q40: Do you notice any changes in your sleep patterns before your period or as a result of not having periods any more?
  • q41: I often wake up feeling too hot or sweaty at night.

q42 (everyone): When trying to sleep, I feel discomfort or a strong urge to move my legs.

q40 and q41 are shown only when female is selected. q39 is skipped when q38 is answered “never”.

Calculation and limitations

The sleep score is 100 minus the unweighted mean of eight domain scores: pattern, insomnia, quality, daytime, habits, environment, breathing signals and mental calm. Each contributes 12.5% when all eight are answered. A higher sleep score means fewer self-reported difficulties; it is not a clinical measure.

Lifestyle and blood pressure, circadian rhythm and shift work, and hormonal phases do not contribute to the total. Restless legs provides a signal only, with no domain score. These questions describe other factors than overall reported sleep, or characteristics and life stages that are not necessarily changed by habits.

Answers 1–5 are mapped linearly to 0, 25, 50, 75 and 100 in the direction of difficulties. This treats the distance between each answer choice as equal. That is a simplification. Within each domain, means are used with exceptions: q2 has half weight with frequent shift work (q36 ≥ 4), and q38 and q39 together count as one item; when q39 is skipped q38 counts alone. We round area scores and the overall average to whole numbers. The sleep score is 100 minus that mean.

We use colour bands on a scale from 0 to 100. Higher numbers are better: red up to 30, yellow from 31 to 70 and green from 71. These practical thresholds are not normed against a population.

Validation

Researchers have not validated Sleep Test as a clinical tool. Its question domains draw on topics in established, validated instruments: the Insomnia Severity Index for insomnia [5], Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index for quality [7], Epworth Sleepiness Scale for daytime sleepiness [8], and STOP-Bang for breathing signals [18]. This does not mean that this test uses their exact questions, scoring rules or diagnostic thresholds.

Flags and signals

Complete reference list

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