Objective To investigate the prevalence rate and related factors of excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) in the elderly. Methods Epworth Sleep Scales (ESS) was used to make a randomized questionnaire among the retired elderly. Results 1 000 questionnaires were released and totally 768 qualified answers were returned. The mean score of ESS was 4.22?0.10 and the score ≥8 was used as an abmormal value. The prevlence rate of EDS in the elderly group was 10.9%. Regression analysis was done based on ESS score as dependent variable, and age, sex, duration of sleep, difficulty in falling asleep, early wakeup, daytime sleepiness, habitual snoring and loud unstable snoring as independent variables. It was showed that daytime tiredness(r=1.458, P