Comparison of the Munich Chronotype Questionnaire with the Horne‐Östberg's Morningness‐Eveningness score

Abstract

We report on results from an Internet survey of sleeping habits in a Dutch population using the Munich Chronotype Questionnaire (MCTQ), supplemented with the Horne‐Östberg Morningness‐Eveningness Questionnaire (MEQ). The MCTQ was completed by 5,055 responders, of which 2,481 also completed the MEQ. MEQ score correlated well with the MCTQ assessment of time of mid‐sleep on free days (MSF; r=− 0.73) and on workdays (MSW; r=− 0.61). MEQ was more strongly correlated with MSF (50% of sleep time) than with sleep onset (0%), rise time (100%), or with any other percentile (10 to 40, 60% to 90%) of sleep on free days. The study shows that chronotype (based on MSF as measured by the MCTQ) strongly correlates with morningness‐eveningness (as measured by the MEQ). However, the MCTQ collects additional detailed information on sleep‐wake behavior under natural conditions.

• Human chronotypes
• Sleep
• Survey
• Horne‐Östberg's Morningness‐Eveningness Questionnaire
• Munich Chronotype Questionnaire

Notes

¹Although we have no specific information about social background of the responders, we must assume that our collective is neither representative for the social composition nor the age distribution of the Dutch population. After all, practically all responders were Internet and email users.