Arabic version of the General Sleep Disturbance Scale among healthcare night-shift workers: a cross-sectional validation study

Background and objectives The General Sleep Disturbance Scale (GSDS) has been translated and amended into various languages with adequate psychometric properties. However, the Arabic version has not been validated before. Therefore, this study aimed to test the validity and reliability of the Arabic GSDS among a sample of healthcare night-shift workers. Methods This cross-sectional validation study employed an online survey targeting Egyptian healthcare night-shift workers from April to June 2025. The survey included demographic data and the Arabic versions of GSDS and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). Results Four hundred forty-three healthcare night-shift workers with a median age of 29 (25–32) years and a median of 6 (4–8) shifts/month were enrolled. The GSDS had an excellent internal consistency (Cronbach’s α=0.841). The intraclass correlation coefficient for GSDS was 0.978 (95% CI 0.971 to 0.983), indicating excellent test-retest reliability. The convergent validity was confirmed by the significant positive correlation found between total scores of GSDS and PSQI (r=0.501). Moreover, a fair degree of significant correlations were observed between GSDS and sleep onset latency, sleep duration, sleep disturbances, daytime dysfunction and sleep quality (r=0.324, 0.304, 0.409, 0.441 and 0.353, respectively), while the correlations were of weak degree with each of sleep efficiency and sleep medication use sections (r=0.271 and 0.231, respectively). Conclusion This study confirmed the excellent reliability as well as the convergent validity of the Arabic GSDS. Therefore, it can be used to assist in the detection of sleep disturbances in Arabic-speaking adults.