The Reliability and Validity of the Korean Version of the Medical Outcomes Study-Sleep Scale in Patients with Obstructive Sleep Apnea

Abstract

Sleep is essential for maintaining physical and mental health. Disruptions in sleep, which can be caused by a variety of sleep disorders, may raise several problems including daytime sleepiness, which can lead to traffic and occupational accidents, depression and mood disturbances, cognitive dysfunction, and impaired productivity at work.1-5 To assess disruptions in sleep, we measure sleep quality in terms of both its quantitative aspect (duration and latency) as well as its qualitative aspect (depth or restfulness of sleep). Polysomnography is the best way to evaluate sleep quality. But its usage is not always practical and may even induce a “firstnight effect” because this technique requires considerable equipment and changes habitual sleep patterns in sleep laboratories.6 Alternatively, self-reporting methods such as sleep questionnaires can be used to get information on sleep quality as experienced by the patient. These subjective questionnaires, which are easily administered, usually evaluate both the quantitative as well as the qualitative aspect of sleep. Several sleep questionnaires have been developed to evaluate disrupted sleep quality.7-12 One of the most widely used scales for evaluating broad-spectrum sleep quality is the Medical Outcomes Study-Sleep Scale (MOS-Sleep).13,14 The MOS-Sleep is a self-reported, non-diseaseReceived: August 9, 2011 Revised: September 26, 2011 Accepted: September 27, 2011