Validation of the French version of the Munich ChronoType questionnaire and associations between chronotype and physiological parameters

ABSTRACT

Assessing chronotype is essential in clinical and research environments, but the Munich ChronoType Questionnaire (MCTQ), a widely utilised tool, is not available in French. Therefore, we carried out an observational monocentric study to validate the French MCTQ against the sleep diary for sleep schedules, the Morningness-Eveningness Questionnaire (MEQ) for chronotype, and polysomnography measures. We utilised the mid-sleep point on free days (MSF), adjusted for sleep debt (MSFsc), to gauge morningness/eveningness. The study included 80 participants (average age: 40.9 years, 50% female). The sleep schedules determined by the MCTQ and the sleep diary showed a high correlation. The MSFsc demonstrated a significant correlation with the MEQ, persisting even under sleep constraints such as an alarm on free days. The predictive accuracy was strong for a morning chronotype and moderate for an evening chronotype as assessed using the MEQ. In summary, the French MCTQ is a reliable tool for researchers and clinicians for assessing sleep schedules and chronotype in French-speaking populations. The MSFsc can effectively predict chronotype, even under sleep constraints. However, for the evening chronotype, self-assessment appears to be more accurate. The association with polysomnography measures enriches our understanding of the chronotype at the intersection of behaviour and physiology.

Graphical abstract

KEYWORDS:

• Chronotype
• questionnaire
• validation
• behaviour
• physiology

Acknowledgments

The Bordeaux University Hospital, the Bordeaux University, and the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) for their support in the conception and implementation of this study.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author [JC], upon reasonable request.

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/07420528.2024.2362309.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Research Agency (ANR) under Grant (Labex BRAIN ANR-10-LABX-43).