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Epworth Sleepiness Scale
This easy to use patient self administered questionnaire can be used to screen patients for sleep apnoea. Score 0 if they never doze in that situation, up to 3 if they have a high chance of dozing. Total scores of ≥ 11 are supportive of the diagnosis.
Ask the patient how likely they are to doze off or fall asleep in the following situations (rather than just feeling tired) - referring to their usual way of life in recent times. If they haven't done some of these things recently, ask them to try and work out how it would have affected them - so all questions have an answer.
References, footnotes and further reading
- Johns MW. A new method for measuring daytime sleepiness: the Epworth sleepiness scale. Sleep 1991 14:540-5
Acknowledgements EMIS is grateful to Dr Huw Thomas for the Calculator used in this record. The final copy has passed peer review of the independent Mentor GP authoring team. ŠEMIS 2006.
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