The Relationship between Subjective and Objective Measures of Sleepiness

Abstract

The purpose of the present study was to examine the relationship among the Multiple Sleep Latency Test (MSLT), lapses during a tapping task, a visual analog scale (VAS) and the Stanford sleepiness scale (SSS). Subjects were 80 male adult nonsmokers (age 20.3 + or - 2.7 years). The MSLT, SSS, and the VAS were obtained at two-hour intervals beginning at 0700 h. On the MSLT, sleep latency was measured from lights out to first spindle, K-complex or rapid-eye- movement (REM) period. The tapping task (lapses) was administered each day at 0600 h, but became nonsignificant as the day progressed. Correlations of objective and subjective measures from scores summed over both days were not significant. The two objective measures were significantly correlated throughout the day and over days as were the subjective measures. This study reaffirms the importance of time of day in sleepiness, and suggests that subjective and objective measures cannot be used interchangeably and may measure different aspects of sleepiness.

Open PDF

Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Dec 07, 1988
Accession Number
ADA205861

Entities

People

  • Charles R. Freeman
  • Cheryl L. Spinweber
  • Laverne C. Johnson
  • Steven A. Gomez

Organizations

  • Naval Health Research Center

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Biomedical

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Analysis Of Variance
  • Beverages
  • Biomedical Research
  • Caffeine
  • Computing-Related Activities
  • Data Science
  • Deprivation
  • Diurnal Variations
  • Eye Movements
  • Hypnotics And Sedatives
  • Information Science
  • Performance Tests
  • Psychological Phenomena And Processes
  • Schools
  • Situational Awareness
  • Sleep Deprivation
  • Statistics

Fields of Study

  • Psychology

Readers

  • Brain and Cognitive Science; Experimental Psychology; Cognitive Neuroscience
  • Circadian Sleep-Wake Regulation and Chronobiology