Abstract
Study design
Psychometric study.
Objective
This study sought to analyze the psychometric properties of the Italian version of the General Sleep Disturbance Scale (GSDS-IT) in a population of individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI).
Setting
Italy.
Methods
Its reliability was assessed using the Cronbach’s alpha and intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC), while its concurrent validity was assessed using the Pearson’s correlation coefficient in relation to the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). The obtained scores were compared with the cut-off score for the GSDS-IT among a healthy Italian population (38.5).
Results
The GSDS-IT was administered to 57 participants with SCI who were recruited from all over Italy. The GSDS-IT was found to have good internal consistency (Cronbach’s α of 0.76) and good test-retest reliability (ICC of 0.7), and it showed positive and significant values for all the PSQI domains. Based on the cut-off score of 38.5, 56% of participants tested positive for sleep disturbances upon admission (t0), while among the randomized participants submitted for the test-retest after 24 h (t1), 75% tested positive for sleep disturbances.
Conclusion
The GSDS-IT is a valid, reliable, and time-efficient tool for measuring sleep disturbances over the past week in a population with SCI.
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Data availability
The data used to support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon request.
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(1) Research project: GG, AB, MT. Conception, MAM, FP. Organization, MLG, AS. Execution; (2) Statistical analysis: GG, AB, MT: design, GG. Execution, MMA, FP. Review and critique; (3) Manuscript: MLG, AS. Writing of the first draft, AB, FP. Review and critique.
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Authors certify that all applicable institutional and governmental regulations concerning the ethical use of human volunteers were followed during the course of this research. All procedures followed were in accordance with the ethical standards of the responsible committee on human experimentation (institutional and national) and with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 2008. Informed consent was obtained from all participants for being included in the study. Institutional Review Board approval was not required because the administration of these tool was part of the usual process of assessment of these individuals in clinical practice, the research involved the analysis of data collected such that individual subjects cannot be identified in any way.
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Panuccio, F., Galeoto, G., Marquez, M.A. et al. General Sleep Disturbance Scale (GSDS-IT) in people with spinal cord injury: a psychometric study. Spinal Cord 58, 1183–1188 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41393-020-0500-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41393-020-0500-0
