Gender differences in Epworth Sleepiness Scale revealed by paired patient–spouse scoring

Abstract Purpose Evaluation of daytime sleepiness in the clinical sleep practice is commonly performed by administering the Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS). Our study investigates gender differences of ESS responses in patients (PTs) with a primary complaint of nighttime sleep disruption as they relate to ESS responses obtained from PTs' spouses (Ss). Methods One hundred and sixty-four patient–spouse (PT-S) pairs were recruited for the study and asked to independently complete ESS questionnaires consisting of 8 sleepiness scenarios (Q1–Q8). Descriptive summaries were frequencies and percentages for categorical data, and medians and quartiles for continuous variables. Differences between PT-S pairs and different data sets were evaluated using a two-tail independent T test and Wilcoxon's Rank Sum Test. All analyses were done in SAS for Windows 9.4. Results Eighty-five male and 75 female PTs were recruited for the study. Female PTs reported significantly higher total ESS scores than male PTs (12.16 vs 9.64, p  Conclusions Significant gender differences were noted when PT-S ESS responses were compared. Demonstrated gender differences were further influenced by the PT's race.