Psychometric evaluation of the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index in cancer patients
Open accessAbstract
This report summarizes findings related to the psychometric properties (internal consistency and construct validity) of the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and discusses issues related to its use based on data from two clinical studies with diverse samples of cancer patients. Subjects completed a questionnaire that included the PSQI, the Schwartz Cancer Fatigue Scale, and specific demographic, disease, and treatment variables. There were complete data on 170 (of 214) cases in Study 1 and 249 (of 259) cases in Study 2. The Cronbach's alpha for the Global Sleep Quality scale was 0.81 in Study 1 and 0.77 in Study 2 A comparison of Global Sleep Quality in two contrasting groups with low and high fatigue yielded statistically significant differences in both samples. Psychometric evaluation supports its internal consistency reliability and construct validity. However, the scoring is rather cumbersome and raises questions regarding level of measurement and appropriate analysis techniques.
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The Insomnia Severity Index and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index have been validated in cancer populations.
“Both measures have been validated in cancer populations (108,109).”
From Interventions for insomnia in cancer patients and survivors-a comprehensive systematic review and meta-analysis (2024) · cites this paper as [109]
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- Authors
- Beck, S. L., Schwartz, A. L., Towsley, G., Dudley, W., & Barsevick, A.
- Affiliations
- Fox Chase Cancer Center (US)
- Corresponding author
- Beck, Susan L
- Venue
- Journal of Pain and Symptom Management
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2004-02
- Volume
- 27
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 140-148
- ISSN
- 0885-3924 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2087150179
- Cited by
- 464
- References
- 26
- Citations by year
- 2026: 15 · 2025: 30 · 2024: 40 · 2023: 26 · 2022: 34 · 2021: 33 · 2020: 33 · 2019: 18 · 2018: 16 · 2017: 12 · 2016: 27 · 2015: 25 · 2014: 22 · 2013: 19 · 2012: 24
- FWCI
- 9.85
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Journal of Pain and Symptom Management (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- NC Digital Online Collection of Knowledge and Scholarship (The University of North Carolina at Greensboro) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- National Cancer Institute
- National Institute of Nursing Research (R01 NR04573-04, R01NR004573)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Sleep and related disorders
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Oncology › Cancer survivorship and care
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Sleep and Work-Related Fatigue
- Keywords
- Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, cancer patients, sleep quality, psychometric properties, internal consistency, construct validity, cancer-related fatigue, questionnaire scoring, levels of measurement
- MeSH terms
- Female, Humans, Male, Neoplasms, Pennsylvania, Psychometrics, Surveys and Questionnaires, Self-Assessment, Sensitivity and Specificity, Severity of Illness Index, Sleep Wake Disorders, Reproducibility of Results, Comorbidity, Benchmarking
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