Cleveland Adolescent Sleepiness Questionnaire (CASQ): a translation and validation study of the Persian version

Introduction The purpose of this study was to assess the validity and reliability of the Persian version of the Cleveland Adolescent Sleepiness Questionnaire (CASQ) in Iranian adolescents. Methods The CASQ consists of 16 items measuring extreme sleepiness during the day in adolescents aged 11-17 years old. The questionnaire includes two dimensions: Sleepiness Statements and Alertness Statements. This study was a descriptive cross-sectional study. The original English text of CASQ was translated into Persian using backward-forward translation. Then, 310 secondary school adolescents aged 11-17 years old completed that in Kashan. The internal validity of the questionnaire was determined two times at an interval of two weeks using Cronbach's alpha coefficient. The concurrent validity was determined using Spearman correlation coefficient. Factor analysis was used by performing principle component analysis for assessing construct validity. Results 199 (47.1%) of the adolescents participated in this study, were male and 111 (52.9%) were female. Mean and standard deviation of the age of adolescents were 14.31 +/- 0.9. The Cronbach's alpha coefficient for the entire CASQ was the satisfactory value of 0.8. The intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC coefficient) of the tool was 0.78, which confirmed the repeatability of this test. Spearman's correlation coefficient between CASQ and Epworth sleepiness scale (ESS) was equal to 0.21, and the correlation coefficient between CASQ and Pittsburg Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) was 0.25. Both were significant at P < 0.05 level. Conclusions Based on the present study findings, we concluded that the Persian version of CASQ has an appropriate validity and reliability for assessing the sleepiness of adolescents in the Persian language community.