Center for Research in Neuropsychology and Cognitive Behavioral Intervention

The GSQ-6 is a one-factor brief instrument with good psychometric characteristics (Cronbach’s alpha = .79) to assess the subjective sleep quality in older people. The GSQ-6  consists of six questions, with five-point Likert-type response options (ranging from 1 to 5) about sleep latency (Item 1; “1-14 min” to “over 60 min”), difficulty in falling asleep (Item 2, “never” to “almost every or every night”), number of night awakenings (Item 3, “0 times” to “over 6 times”), waking up spontaneously before the desired time (Item 4, “never” to “almost every or every night”), whether waking up earlier is a problem (Item 5, “not at all” to “very much”), quality (Item 6, “very bad” to “very good”). Items scores are summed up (Item 6 is reversed), with the highest values denoting poorer subjective sleep quality.

The GSQ-6 demonstrated good diagnostic performance (AUC = .72; p < .01; sensitivity = 80.0%; specificity = 66.7%) with a cutoff value of 16 (Youden index = .47).