BACKGROUND: The Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS) is a brief instrument to identify sleep propensity. However, little is known about the psychometric performance of the Spanish version in university students. The study aimed to study the validity and reliability of the ESS in Colombian university students. METHODS: A psychometric study was designed with 465 students of health-related careers between 18 and 29 years old (M = 20.48, SD = 2.27)
66.67% of the students were women. A confirmatory factor analysis was conducted, comparisons of scores between men and women, correlations with insomnia (Athens Insomnia Scale, AIS), anxiety (GAD-7), depression (PHQ-9), and sleep hygiene (SHI-10) and sex differential item functioning as indicators of validity and Cronbach's alpha and McDonald's omega were calculated as estimators of internal consistency. RESULTS: The ESS showed a unidimensional structure, similar scores in men and women, statistically significant correlations with AIS, GAD-7, PHQ-9, and SHI-10, without sex differential item functioning, and high internal consistency (Cronabch's alpha and McDonald's omega of 0.82). CONCLUSION: The Spanish version of the ESS presents acceptable validity and reliability indicators in Colombian university students. However, these findings must be corroborated in other samples of Spanish-speaking participants.