Psychometric Analysis of the Pittsburgh Insomnia Rating Scale among University Population of Poor Sleepers in India

• Published in: North American journal of medical sciences 2014-04, Vol.6 (4), p.161-167
• Main Authors: Veqar, Zubia, Moiz, Jamal Ali, Hussain, Mohammed Ejaz
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Diagnosis; Insomnia; Methods; Original; Psychological aspects; Psychological tests; Psychometrics
• ISSN: 2250-1541; 1947-2714; 1947-2714
• DOI: 10.4103/1947-2714.131238

Pittsburgh insomnia rating scale is a 65 item self administered open source questionnaire. The scale is widely used in clinical practice but its psychometric properties are not well established. Therefore keeping in mind this lacuna the current study was designed for university population of poor sleepers in India. The purpose of this study was to establish the Pittsburgh sleep Quality Index test- retest reliability, validity and internal consistency of Pittsburgh insomnia rating scale. Twenty five subjects were randomly chosen from the screened population of poor sleepers. Pittsburgh insomnia rating scale, Pittsburgh sleep quality index and Insomnia severity index were administered on test day. Retest was administered after one week. Eight males and seventeen females with mean age 24 + 7.04 were recruited. The test retest reliability for Pittsburgh insomnia rating scale total score showed excellent reliability (ICC2,1-0.93). The results also show that the total score is moderately correlated with Pittsburgh sleep Quality Index (r-0.31) and moderately correlated with Insomnia severity index (r-0.49). Internal consistency for the test was excellent (Cronbach's alpha- 0.930). The study findings suggest that Pittsburgh insomnia rating scale has excellent internal consistency, test-retest reliability and good validity for university population of poor sleepers in India. It is an important first line of assessment scale for screening of sleep problems.