Epworth Sleepiness Scale Results | Read Your Score

When you first see your Epworth score, it can feel like a random number. In reality, that simple total carries a lot of clues about how sleepy you are during the day and whether that sleepiness might be putting your health, mood, or safety at risk.

The Epworth Sleepiness Scale is used worldwide in sleep clinics and research. You rate how likely you are to doze off in eight everyday situations, then add the numbers. The higher the score, the more your brain tends to slip toward sleep when you would usually want to stay awake.

This guide walks through what your result means, how doctors tend to read different score ranges, and when that number should prompt a visit with a sleep specialist. You will also see how Epworth scores fit into the wider picture of sleep health over months and years.

What Is The Epworth Sleepiness Scale?

The Epworth Sleepiness Scale was created by sleep physician Murray Johns in Melbourne in the late 1980s and has since become one of the most widely used tools for rating daytime sleepiness. The official version asks about eight simple situations, such as sitting and reading, watching television, or riding as a passenger in a car for an hour or more.

For each situation, you score your chance of dozing from 0 to 3. Zero means you would not doze, while 3 means you would almost always nod off. When you add the eight answers together, you end up with a total score between 0 and 24. Higher totals reflect a stronger tendency to fall asleep in relaxed settings during the day.

The method and full questionnaire are described on the official Epworth Sleepiness Scale website, which also explains how the tool was tested and validated in large groups of patients and healthy volunteers.

Typical Epworth Score Ranges

Different clinics use slightly different cutoffs, yet most follow a pattern in which low scores fit normal sleepiness and higher scores suggest a problem. The table below blends commonly used bands drawn from sleep medicine sources and patient guides.

ESS Score Range	General Meaning	Daytime Pattern
0–5	Lower end of normal sleepiness	Sleepy only in relaxed, quiet settings
6–7	Normal sleepiness	Stays awake in routine activities with rare dozing
8–9	Borderline higher sleepiness	May drift off during passive tasks, such as watching TV
10	Mildly raised sleepiness	Dozing now and then in meetings or long conversations
11–12	Mild to moderate excess sleepiness	Struggles to stay alert during relaxed social time
13–15	Moderate excess sleepiness	Often nods off while seated unless moving or engaged
16–24	Severe excess sleepiness	Fights sleep in many settings and may fall asleep in minutes

How The Epworth Sleepiness Scale Is Scored

To understand your Epworth score, it helps to know exactly what goes into that total. Each of the eight items describes a common setting where people tend to feel drowsy.

• Sitting and reading
• Watching television
• Sitting inactive in a public place, such as a meeting or theater
• Riding as a passenger in a car for an hour without a break
• Lying down to rest in the afternoon
• Sitting and talking with someone
• Sitting quietly after lunch without alcohol
• Stopped in traffic while driving

For each one, you pick a number:

• 0 – No chance of dozing
• 1 – Slight chance of dozing
• 2 – Moderate chance of dozing
• 3 – High chance of dozing

If your total falls between 0 and 10, many clinics view that as the usual range for adults. Scores above 10 tend to point toward excessive daytime sleepiness and often prompt further testing, such as overnight sleep studies or a multiple sleep latency test.

Researchers and clinical groups use similar score bands in their patient information. The Sleep Foundation guide to the Epworth Sleepiness Scale and Cleveland Clinic materials both describe 0–10 as typical and scores above that range as a sign that further review may be needed.

Epworth Sleepiness Score Results Across Age Groups

An Epworth score means slightly different things for different ages and life stages. Teenagers, shift workers, new parents, and older adults may all write down similar numbers for very different reasons.

In surveys from sleep medicine groups, many healthy adults land in the single digits, which matches the ranges in large research samples that first validated the scale. People with untreated obstructive sleep apnea, narcolepsy, or chronic sleep deprivation often record scores in the teens or higher, though there is plenty of overlap between groups.

Age also shapes how doctors use your Epworth score during a visit. A teenager with a score of 11 who stays up past midnight on school nights may need a different plan from an older adult with the same score and a history of loud snoring, pauses in breathing, and morning headaches.

Across ages, one theme stays steady: higher results call for a closer look at sleep habits, medical conditions, and daily safety. A patient who nods off at red lights faces very different risks from someone who only feels drowsy on the sofa after dinner.

If your score is over 10 and you struggle with alertness, many sleep specialists suggest talking with a doctor or a dedicated sleep clinic. Some people will need further tests, while others improve with simple steps such as a steadier sleep schedule or better timing of medications.

Epworth Sleepiness Scale Results And What They Tell You

Epworth Sleepiness Scale Results sit near the center of many sleep clinic visits. They help your care team sort mild sleepiness from patterns that raise concern for disorders such as sleep apnea, narcolepsy, or chronic insomnia.

Low Or Normal Scores (0–10)

If your score is between 0 and 10, your daytime sleepiness likely falls in the usual range. You may still feel tired during long workdays or after short nights, yet you rarely drift off when you want to stay awake.

Even with a low score, context still matters. Someone who sleeps only five hours a night but scores a 6 may still benefit from longer sleep. Another person who gets enough sleep and scores a 9 might ask why they drift off in passive settings and whether other symptoms, such as loud snoring or restless legs, are present.

Borderline Scores (11–14)

Scores between 11 and 14 fall in a gray zone. Many sleep guides label this range as mild excess sleepiness. You may find yourself dozing during meetings, while watching television, or as a passenger in a car, even when you had what seemed like a full night of sleep.

In this range, doctors often ask about shift work, late bedtimes, medications that cause drowsiness, untreated sleep apnea, and mental health conditions such as depression or anxiety. A closer review of your sleep schedule, caffeine use, and screen time before bed can also show why your brain slips toward sleep during the day.

Higher Scores (15–24)

Scores from 15 upward usually point toward more severe sleepiness. Many people in this band struggle to stay awake during reading, television, or quiet conversations. Some even catch themselves nodding at stoplights or during meals.

In these cases, doctors often move quickly toward formal testing. That may include an overnight study to look for obstructive sleep apnea, followed by daytime testing for narcolepsy or related disorders when needed. Safety also becomes a central topic, especially for people who drive long distances or operate machinery.

The American Academy of Sleep Medicine notes that excessive daytime sleepiness can reduce work performance, raise crash risk, and affect quality of life, so a high score should never be ignored.

When To Call A Sleep Clinic

Epworth Sleepiness Scale scores are a starting point, not a final answer. A single number cannot explain why you feel sleepy, yet it can flag patterns that deserve medical attention and guide the next step in testing or treatment.

Reach out to a doctor or sleep clinic if any of these fit your situation:

• Your score is over 10 and stays there even after you try to improve your sleep schedule.
• You snore loudly, gasp, or stop breathing during sleep, especially if your score is 11 or higher.
• You feel drowsy while driving, at work, during school, or while caring for children.
• You fall asleep suddenly or feel as if your muscles give out when you laugh or get upset.
• You wake often at night, feel unrefreshed in the morning, and your Epworth score keeps creeping up.

High scores do not always mean a sleep disorder is present, yet they do tell your care team that daytime sleepiness is affecting daily life. Combined with a detailed sleep history and, when needed, tests such as overnight polysomnography, Epworth scores help shape a plan that fits your health needs and safety risks.

Making Sense Of Your Epworth Score At Home

Many people fill out the scale more than once, either at home or between clinic visits. Tracking epworth sleepiness scale results over weeks and months can show whether changes in bedtime, treatment, or lifestyle are moving you in the right direction.

Try to complete the questionnaire under similar conditions each time, rating your usual week rather than one unusually busy day. Keep the completed forms in a folder or a note on your phone so you can bring them to appointments. A steady rise or fall in scores can give your doctor helpful context beyond a single number.

Common Reasons For A High Epworth Score

When Epworth results rise into the teens, the next question is why. Many factors can raise your score, and more than one can be present at the same time. The table below lists frequent contributors that doctors see in practice.

Possible Cause	Typical Clues	What To Share With Your Doctor
Short sleep time	Regularly sleeping fewer than 7 hours per night	Bed and wake times over a normal week
Obstructive sleep apnea	Loud snoring, gasping, pauses in breathing	Reports from bed partners and morning symptoms
Narcolepsy or related disorders	Sudden sleep episodes, vivid dreams at sleep onset	History of daytime sleep attacks and muscle weakness
Restless legs or periodic limb movements	Uncomfortable leg sensations, night-time kicking	Descriptions of leg urges and bed partner observations
Medications and substances	Use of sedatives, some allergy pills, or alcohol near bedtime	Full list of prescriptions, over-the-counter drugs, and supplements
Mood or anxiety disorders	Low energy, sadness, irritability, or nervousness	Changes in mood, interests, appetite, and concentration
Medical conditions	Thyroid disease, chronic pain, heart or lung disease	Any long-term diagnoses and recent lab results

Because so many issues can lift your Epworth score, doctors rarely rely on the scale alone. They combine your score with questions about snoring, breathing pauses, leg discomfort, long drives, shift work, caffeine use, and daytime performance.

The Harvard Division of Sleep Medicine and other expert groups describe Epworth scores as one piece of a larger assessment that also looks at sleep timing, sleep quality, and safety on the road or at work.

If you decide to fill out the scale on your own, treat it as a prompt for a deeper conversation with a qualified clinician, not as a self-diagnosis tool. Bring your result, sleep diary, and a list of all medicines to your visit so your care team can match the number to the rest of your story.