Athlete Sleep Series: #3

The Athlete Sleep Screening Questionnaire (ASSQ)

The ASSQ was created in 2015 and validated in an athletic population in 2018 (shout out to the U of C).

The questionnaire has 16 questions covering sleep quantity, sleep quality, insomnia, chronotype, travel disturbance and sleep disordered breathing. Only 6 questions were included in the sleep difficulty score (SDS) after validation. These questions were shown to have the best match with the diagnosis and recommendations given by an independent Sleep Medicine Physician.

The validation was completed on Canadian National Team athletes where 25% of the tested athletes were identified as needing further clinical assessment (SDS = moderate or severe).

The additional 10 questions shed light on where further recommendations and interventions should be placed.

The SDS score can be plugged into the flowchart (see Series: No1) for direction on where to go next with your athlete. ‘No or mild’ sleep problems can be managed with tailored education and continual monitoring, whereas ‘moderate or severe’ should be flagged and a referral be made for further assessment.

In addition to the SDS score, the ASSQ also has additional ‘modifiers’ which are less common events but will also require a referral. These include a ‘Yes’ response to Q #13 and #14 (sleep disordered breathing; snoring and choking) and Q #12 (travel related daytime dysfunction).

You can find the full ASSQ and the scoring key available for download HERE.

For those curious, the SDS + Scoring Key is below (my score included but keep in mind, I am in fact, not an elite athlete)

Stay tuned for No4 in my athlete sleep series which will take a look at one more tool we can use to narrow done why our athletes are struggling with their sleep.

Thanks for taking the time to read!