Table 1.
Six simple questions that can be included in the assessment of sleep health in clinic.
| Questions | Desired answers |
|---|---|
| 1. How many hours do you sleep on an average night? | 7–9 h per night for adults |
| 2. During the past month, how would you rate your sleep quality overall? | Very good or fairly good |
| 3. Do you go to bed and wake up at the same time every day, even on weekends? | Yes, consistent sleep schedule in general |
| 4. How likely is that you would fall asleep during the daytime without intending to or that you would struggle to stay awake while you were doing things? | Unlikely |
| 5. How often do you have trouble going to sleep or staying asleep? | Never, rarely or sometimes |
| 6. During the past 2 weeks, for about how many days did you have loud snoring? | Never |
Adapted from recent sleep health questionnaires for adults in the US (National Sleep Foundation's Sleep Health Index and National Healthy Sleep Awareness Project). The questions aim to provide a snapshot of sleep health in <2 min and give key information about five sleep health dimensions: sleep duration (question 1), sleep quality (question 2), sleep timing (question 3), daytime alertness (question 4), and a possible sleep disorder such as insomnia (question 5) or obstructive sleep apnea (question 6). Question 1 can be adapted for shift workers (because they sleep during the day) and for those taking naps (in which case nap duration can be added to the nightly sleep duration). Other aspects of sleep health can be considered if time permits. For example, one may want to question about social jet lag, or the discrepancy between sleep on work and free days, or weekdays vs. weekends. A high discrepancy is not desired (biological and social times should be aligned as much as possible and work and activity schedules should be adapted to the chronotype of each individual whenever possible). Red flag answers from the sleep assessment above include things such as “I snore so loud my partner sleeps in another room”, “I wake up gasping and choking”, “I fall asleep when driving”, “I sleep walk”, “I am awake between 2:00 am and 4:00 am”, “I wake up and eat at night”, “I drink alcohol or take Gravol to fall asleep” etc.