Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS)

Developed in 1990 and revised in 1997

A version for Adolescent has been created in 2015: ESS-CHAD

WEBINAR: An Author Webinar on the Epworth Sleepiness Scale - Recorded session available here!

Johns MW. The clinical assessment of daytime sleepiness in patients with obstructive sleep apnea. In:Surgery for snoring and obstructive sleep apnea syndrome, ed. Fabiani M. Kugler publications, The Hague, 2003: 283-295

Johns MW. Sensitivity and specificity of the multiple sleep latency test (MSLT), the maintenance of wakefulness test and the epworth sleepiness scale: failure of the MSLT as a gold standard. J Sleep Res. 2000 Mar;9(1):5-11 (PubMed abstract)

Johns MW. Sleepiness in different situations measured by the Epworth Sleepiness Scale. Sleep. 1994 Dec;17(8):703-10 (PubMed abstract)

Johns MW. Daytime sleepiness, snoring, and obstructive sleep apnea. The Epworth Sleepiness Scale. Chest. 1993 Jan;103(1):30-6 (PubMed abstract)

Johns MW. Reliability and factor analysis of the Epworth Sleepiness Scale. Sleep. 1992 Aug;15(4):376-81 (PubMed abstract)

Johns MW. A new method for measuring daytime sleepiness: the Epworth sleepiness scale. Sleep. 1991 Dec;14(6):540-5 (PubMed abstract)

• ESS User Agreement

* Excluding VAT
Commercial users: Industry, CRO, any for-profit companies
Funded Academic research: Projects receiving funding from commerce, government, EU or registered charity. Funded academic research– sponsored by industry fits the “commercial users” category.
Not funded academic users, individual medical practice: Projects are not explicitly funded, but funding comes from overall departmental funds or from the University or individual funds

Conditions to translate

Please refer to the "Languages" tab

Conditions to implement in electronic applications

Exclusive licensor for e-versions of the ESS: Mapi Research Trust

Academic and Commercial Users

• Shall follow the “Conditions of use”  mentioned above
• In addition, in case the electronic version of the ESS is developed by a third party (IT Company, e-PRO vendor…), User shall check with Mapi Research Trust that this third party has signed the necessary License Agreement with Mapi Research Trust before developing the electronic version of the Questionnaire.

Information Technology (IT) Companies (incl. ePRO vendors)

• In case of a one-shot development and commercial use of an electronic version of the ESS by the IT Company, the IT Company shall:
  • Sign a “Specific-Study License Agreement with IT Company” with Mapi Research Trust
    • authorizing the electronic implementation of the ESS for the specific study only
    • shall not permit the IT Company to promote the electronic version of the ESS or its use for another study or another client
  • Pay a one-shot license fee per study to Mapi Research Trust: 500 Euros
• In case of an IT Company who wishes to develop an electronic version of the ESS and would like to obtain a non-exclusive license to market and promote their devices / tablets / smartphones / e-applications using the ESS, the IT Company shall:
  • Sign a “General License Agreement with IT Company” with Mapi Research Trust
    • authorizing the electronic implementation of the ESS on multiple devices for multiple studies and clients
    • permitting the IT Company to promote the electronic versions of the ESS by any marketing means (including, but not limited to, IT Company’s  promotional documents / websites / press release / communication during conferences / webinars)
  • Pay an annual administrative fee of 2,500 Euros to Mapi Research Trust
  • Pay an annual royalty fee of 2,500 Euros to Dr. Murray Johns 

Additional information on the ESS website

Examination copies can only be used for the limited purpose of examining the suitability of the Questionnaire for subsequent research and/or clinical use, and cannot be used in research or in clinical practice or distributed to others.
You are not authorized to modify, retype, translate, copy or otherwise duplicate the Questionnaire except with the further and prior written permission of Mapi Research Trust / the developers / copyright holders / distributors.

• ESS in English for Australia

The listed translations may not have undergone a full linguistic validation process and may require further work to be suitable for use in a study. This list is subject to constant changes, therefore please check the status of translations with Mapi Research Trust / the developers / copyright holders / distributors.

Bibliographic references of translations:

See Dr Johns personal website

My study is not funded

• I am a non-commercial user
• I do not receive specific funding for my study
• I intend to use the questionnaire in individual clinical practice or research study