The Epworth Sleepiness Scale asks how likely someone is to doze off in eight everyday situations, giving a quick score for excessive daytime sleepiness often used when screening for sleep apnea.
Normal range of daytime sleepiness.
Excessive daytime sleepiness — consider evaluation.
Moderate excessive sleepiness.
Severe excessive sleepiness.
Not by itself — it's a screening tool for excessive daytime sleepiness, which has many possible causes. A high score typically prompts further evaluation like a sleep study rather than a diagnosis.
Scores above 10 (out of 24) suggest excessive daytime sleepiness and warrant further sleep evaluation.
Each of the eight everyday situations is rated 0 (would never doze) to 3 (high chance of dozing), for a total of 0–24.
Epworth measures sleepiness symptoms; STOP-BANG estimates the probability of obstructive sleep apnea. They're often used together when deciding whether to order a sleep study.