Data from: Agreement between electronic and paper Epworth Sleepiness Scale responses in obstructive sleep apnoea: secondary analysis of a randomised controlled trial undertaken in a specialised tertiary care clinic

Objectives: Originally developed as a paper questionnaire, the electronic
Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS) is widely used in sleep clinics and sleep
population research. Despite potential differences between computer-based
and conventional questionnaire delivery, studies have not evaluated the
agreement between electronic and paper versions of the ESS. Given the
widespread use of the ESS, a bias between results would present
considerable data concerns. Thus, the aim of this study was to examine
agreement between electronic and paper ESS responses in obstructive sleep
apnoea (OSA). Design: We undertook a secondary analysis of baseline data
from a randomised controlled trial (ANZCTR: ACTRN12611000847910). Setting:
Data were collected in a tertiary sleep research laboratory located in
Sydney, Australia. Participants: Data were analysed from 112 adult OSA
patients. Measurements: Patients were given the English version of the ESS
as part of a battery of sleep laboratory questionnaires. They completed
electronic and subsequently paper ESS questionnaires on the same day.
Results: We found no significant difference between electronic and paper
ESS questionnaires (mean = 0.1, SD = 2.1, 95% CI [-0.3, 0.5], p = .57) or
heteroscedasticity. There was no evidence of bias along the range of the
measure. 95% limits of agreement at 4.3 and -4.1 were comparable with
previous data. Conclusions: We found no evidence of bias between
electronic and paper ESS questionnaires in this sample of OSA patients, as
the two formats displayed sufficient agreement to be clinically
comparable. Regardless of severity, patients reported the same level of
daytime sleepiness with the same level of accuracy across both measures.