Objective
Women report poor sleep quality during various stages of the menopause transition and post-menopause, especially those with hot flashes. Sleep measurements vary widely due to the copious instruments available. The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) is a frequently used questionnaire that produces a single score for sleep quality. This one-factor structure has not received consistent support in the literature. The goal of this analysis was to determine the best factor structure of the PSQI in women with hot flashes.
Methods
A confirmatory factor analysis was conducted on the PSQI baseline data from three randomized controlled clinical trials enrolling peri- and postmenopausal women with hot flashes (N=849) from the Menopause Strategies: Finding Lasting Answers for Symptoms and Health (MsFLASH) network. Several a priori factor models were compared.
Results
One- and two-factor models did not fit the data. A three-factor model comprising Sleep Efficiency, Perceived Sleep Quality, and Daily Disturbance showed good fit; however, the sleep medication item was dropped due to poor fit and low rates of sleep medication use. The three-factor model was examined in African American (AA) and Caucasian subsamples and found to be similar in both groups; however, two items showed small group differences in strength as indicators.
Conclusions
Sleep quality in midlife women with hot flashes, as measured by the PSQI, appears to comprise three correlated factors. Minor measurement differences detected between groups are of research interest, but do not necessitate different scoring practices. Additional research is needed to further define sleep quality and its associations with health-related outcomes.