Toward a Multi-lingual Diagnostic Tool for the Worldwide Problem of Sleep Health: The French RU-SATED Validation

Introduction: Sleep health is "a multidimensional pattern of sleep-wakefulness, adapted to individual, social, and environmental demands, that promotes physical and mental well-being". The RU-SATED is a short practical self-reported symptom scale that is a reliable valid tool for the rapid evaluation of sleep health. This study sought to examine the psychometric validity of the French version.

Methods: We conducted an observational cross-sectional study. All professionals working in Bordeaux University Hospital were asked to answer an internet-based questionnaire assessing sleep, mental and physical health outcomes. Sleep health was measured using the French RU-SATED scale obtained by a rigorous reverse translation process. Psychometric validity included factor structure, internal structural validity, concurrent validity and external validity of the measure, with sleep, mental and physical health outcomes.

Results: A total of 1,562 participants were included with 80.5% of women and a mean age of 40.0 (±11.2). Sleep health was within the average range (M = 8.2, SD = 2.4) on the RU-SATED. Confirmatory factor analyses showed acceptable model fit measures. Cronbach's alpha coefficient was 0.57 and ranged from 0.46 to 0.58 when removing each item. The correlation between items with the overall corrected scores ranged from 0.19 to 0.43. The "Efficiency" item showed poor psychometric properties. Most items were highly correlated with their appropriate sleep outcome. All items showed a strong association with positive mental and physical health outcomes.

Discussion: The French RU-SATED scale is a reliable valid tool for measuring sleep health in adults. Nevertheless, future studies should better evaluate the reliability and validity of the "Efficiency" item. It is also important to explore how the RU-SATED can be used to evaluate the impact of sleep hygiene strategies in promoting public health in accordance with models of sleep behavior change.