Six questions to rate your sleep health passed a test in 2,000 US adults

A six-question scale, Ru-SATED 4.0, that rates sleep regularity, satisfaction, alertness, timing, efficiency and duration clearly separated people with and without sleep disorders in 2,000 US adults, in a study published Oct. 29, 2026, in Sleep. It is a quick way to check your sleep health.

Good sleep is more than the number of hours. Researchers describe sleep health with several dimensions: how regular your schedule is, how satisfied you are, how alert you feel during the day, when you sleep, how efficiently you sleep and how long.

What is Ru-SATED?

It stands for Regularity, Satisfaction, Alertness, Timing, Efficiency and Duration. Version 4.0 uses 6 questions, one per dimension, each answered on a simple scale.

What did the study test?

First, 23 people were interviewed to make sure the questions were easy to understand. Then 2,000 adults aged 18 to 89, chosen to represent the US population by age, sex, race and education, answered the scale and other established questionnaires. Some answered again a month later.

What did the study find about sleep?

• The six questions fit together well as a single measure.
• Scores correlated moderately with other sleep scales, showing they measure similar things.
• Scores were less related to depression and anxiety scales, showing they capture sleep rather than mood.
• Scores were fairly stable when people answered again one month later.
• People who reported a sleep disorder had clearly worse scores (Cohen’s d of 0.93, a large difference).

Why does this matter?

A short, validated scale makes it easier for doctors, researchers and the public to check sleep health beyond hours, and to track it over time.

How solid is this evidence?

It’s moderate as a measurement tool. Mongevity rates it C on our A-to-E scale. The sample was large and nationally representative, and the methods were rigorous. But it was an online panel, sleep disorders were self-reported, and the scale doesn’t diagnose anything on its own.

What does this mean for you?

You can think about your sleep along these six dimensions. If one stands out, such as an irregular schedule or feeling sleepy during the day, start there. If you snore loudly, stop breathing at night or feel exhausted despite enough time in bed, talk to a doctor.

How do I explain this at dinner?

Sleeping well isn’t just sleeping long. Scientists made six quick questions about when, how long and how well you sleep, and how awake you feel, and checked that they work. A good question for the table: which of those six do you do best?

In one sentence: Ru-SATED 4.0, a six-question scale of sleep health, proved valid and reliable in a representative sample of 2,000 US adults.