19-item measure assessing sleep quality and disturbances over one month. ≈ 5 min to complete. Free with attribution.
PSQI (Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index) is a validated clinical instrument used to assess 19-item measure assessing sleep quality and disturbances over one month.. It is most often used for 19-item measure assessing sleep quality and disturbances over one month.. The instrument contains 7 items. Typical administration time is ≈ 5 min.
Source / attribution: Free to use with citation
19-item measure assessing sleep quality and disturbances over one month. PSQI is part of standard practice in this setting because it provides a structured, replicable assessment that can be tracked over time and compared across patients or visits.
Like all screening or assessment instruments, PSQI is a structured aid — not a diagnostic test in isolation. Results should be interpreted alongside history, examination, and clinical context. Where a score crosses an actionable threshold, the next step is typically a more detailed clinical evaluation rather than a definitive diagnosis.
Answer all 7 items below to see your PSQI score and interpretation.
Each item is scored on a 4-point scale (0–3). Your score updates live as you answer.
All scoring runs in your browser. No data is sent anywhere — close the tab and the answers are gone.
Seven component scores (0-3 each) summed for global score 0-21. Score > 5 indicates poor sleep quality.
Scoring notes: Seven component scores (0-3 each) summed for global score 0-21. Score > 5 indicates poor sleep quality.
The cutoffs below are drawn from the published validation literature. Always interpret in clinical context.
| Score range | Band | Interpretation |
|---|---|---|
| 0–5 | Good sleep quality | None |
| 6–21 | Poor sleep quality | Consider sleep intervention |
This is an illustrative walkthrough, not a real patient. Follow the same four steps with your own answers — or use the live calculator at the top of this page.
Read each question and choose the response that best fits. Each response has a number next to it — that number is the item's score. The example below uses illustrative answers.
| # | Item | Example response | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Subjective sleep quality | Fairly bad | 2 |
| 2 | Sleep latency (time to fall asleep) | 31-60 minutes | 2 |
| 3 | Sleep duration | 5-6 hours | 2 |
| 4 | Habitual sleep efficiency | 65-74% | 2 |
| 5 | Sleep disturbances | Once or twice a week | 2 |
| 6 | Use of sleeping medication | Once or twice a week | 2 |
| 7 | Daytime dysfunction | Somewhat of a problem | 2 |
Add up all the item scores you noted in Step 1.
2 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 2 = 14
Find the row in the interpretation table whose range contains your total:
Total = 14 falls between 6 and 21 → Poor sleep quality
Poor sleep quality. Consider sleep intervention
A score is one input alongside history and examination. PSQI supports clinical judgment — it does not replace it.
Psychometric figures are drawn from the validation literature and may vary across clinical populations and translations.
If PSQI doesn't fit your context, related instruments in sleep include:
| Scale | Measures | Items | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| ISI | Brief screening measure for insomnia severity and outcomes. | 7 | ≈ 2 min |
| ESS | 8-item questionnaire measuring daytime sleepiness in everyday situations. | 8 | ≈ 2 min |
| AIS | 8-item scale based on ICD-10 insomnia criteria for clinical assessment. | 8 | ≈ 2 min |
| PHQ-9 | Severity of depression | 9 | ≈ 3 minutes |
| GAD-7 | Severity of generalized anxiety | 7 | ≈ 2 minutes |
| AUDIT | 10-item WHO screening tool for hazardous alcohol consumption and dependence. | 10 | ≈ 3 min |
| CHA2DS2-VASc | Annual stroke risk in non-valvular atrial fibrillation | 8 | — |
| Glasgow Coma Scale | Level of consciousness after head injury | 3 | — |
PSQI (Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index) is a validated instrument that assesses sleep quality and disturbances over one month. It is designed for clinicians, medical students, evidence-synthesis researchers. It takes about 5 min to complete, and the 7 items are summed to produce a total score.
PSQI typically takes about 5 min to administer. The exact duration varies a little depending on whether it is self-administered or completed with a clinician. Its brief format is part of what makes it practical for routine clinical use and for repeat administration when tracking change over time.
PSQI contains 7 items. Item scores are summed to produce the total. Scores run from 0 to 21, grouped into 2 interpretation bands from ‘Good sleep quality’ up to ‘Poor sleep quality’.
On the PSQI (total score 0–21), scores of 6–21 fall in the ‘Poor sleep quality’ band — interpreted as: Consider sleep intervention. The full ladder is: 0–5 — Good sleep quality: None.; 6–21 — Poor sleep quality: Consider sleep intervention. A higher score reflects a more severe presentation, and crossing a cutoff is a prompt to step up assessment or care — but these bands are screening thresholds, not diagnoses.
Scores of 0–5 fall in the ‘Good sleep quality’ band: None. A low score is reassuring but does not by itself rule out the underlying condition — if symptoms or clinical suspicion persist, reassess over time or use a complementary evaluation rather than relying on the number alone.
PSQI has reported Cronbach's α of 0.83 in validation samples and test–retest reliability of 0.85. Widely validated; correlates with polysomnography. In practical terms, a Cronbach’s α around 0.83 indicates good internal consistency (the items hang together well), and a test–retest reliability of 0.85 means scores are strongly stable when the scale is repeated without real clinical change.
PSQI is free to use with attribution — clinical, educational, and research use is permitted provided the original source is credited. If you publish results or reproduce the scale, include the citation to the source paper.
Buysse, D. J., Reynolds, C. F., Monk, T. H., Berman, S. R., & Kupfer, D. J. (1989). The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index. Psychiatry Research, 28(2), 193-213. This is the original publication for the PSQI — the reference to cite when reporting results.
No. PSQI is a structured assessment aid, not a diagnostic test. Its proper role is clinical assessment of sleep quality and disturbances over one month — it standardizes assessment and flags who needs closer evaluation, but the result must be weighed alongside history, examination, and clinical context. When a score conflicts with your clinical impression, clinical judgment takes precedence; treatment decisions should never rest on a screening score alone.
PSQI is supported by the following peer-reviewed sources: