Your PROMIS Sleep Disturbance 8a score describes how you rated your sleep at night over the past seven days. Your eight answers add up to a raw total from 8 to 40, and higher means more disturbed sleep. The official scoring table converts that raw total to a T-score between 30.5 and 77.5.
Can I still use an older Survey Doctor T-score?
Not as a PROMIS result. If you took this form on Survey Doctor, your T-score came from a different table. It differs from the official table at all 33 possible raw totals. It turned raw totals of 8 and 40 into 28.9 and 83.8, instead of 30.5 and 77.5. Do not use the old T-score, its band, percentile or trend as a PROMIS result.
Keep your original answers if you have them. With all eight, an authorized clinical or research team may be able to rescore the result. They would first confirm the exact form, that every question was answered, and which table applies.
A score on its own is more limited. It does not show your answers, whether all eight were completed, or which table produced it. Do not try to turn it into a new clinical result. Keep these details together:
- exact form name and version
- completion date
- your answer to each question, if you have them
- raw total and T-score as first recorded
- scoring method or table version
What does the PROMIS Sleep Disturbance scale measure?
The official Sleep Disturbance 8a form has eight questions that you answer yourself. Its full name is PROMIS Adult Short Form v1.0 Sleep Disturbance 8a, and Survey Doctor no longer offers it. The questions cover sleep quality, refreshing sleep, trouble falling asleep, restless sleep, worry about sleep and satisfaction with sleep.
The score reports how your sleep felt to you. It does not measure breathing, movement or sleep stages the way a sleep study can. It cannot diagnose insomnia, sleep apnea or the cause of poor sleep.
How is the score calculated?
Each answer scores from 1 to 5. Two positively worded questions are scored in reverse, so a higher raw total always means more disturbance. All eight questions must be answered before the total can be converted.
The HealthMeasures sleep scoring manual gives the table for this exact form and scoring version. It says the table was revised in 2014, and that scores made with the earlier table should be rescored.
Official sources also differ slightly at the top of the scale. The PROMIS adult profile scoring manual gives 77.6 rather than 77.5 for a raw total of 40. The gap is small, but it is another reason to keep the form name and scoring version with a result.
How is Sleep Disturbance different from Sleep-Related Impairment?
Sleep Disturbance describes the experience of sleep at night. The PROMIS Sleep-Related Impairment 8a form describes alertness, concentration and daily function while you are awake. One result cannot be converted into the other.
The older Sleep-Related Impairment 8a score guide explains that measure and its own conversion table. The Sleep Disturbance 8a page describes this form in more detail.
What should I do next?
Talk with a healthcare provider about sleep problems that continue or get worse. NHLBI guidance lists loud snoring, breathing that starts and stops, gasping and daytime sleepiness among possible sleep apnea symptoms. It advises discussing symptoms with a provider.
Do not rely on an old questionnaire score to judge whether you are safe to drive. NHTSA guidance explains the crash risk from drowsy driving and advises waiting to drive until you are well rested.