Online assessment of sustained attention following sleep restriction

To assess the feasibility of conducting home-based sleep restriction studies with actigraphic monitoring of sleep and a new online continuous performance test (OCPT).

Thirty-four university undergraduate students (24 females, 19-30years old) underwent repeated home assessments using self-administered OCPT following a regular night of sleep (8h or more) and following sleep restriction (4h of sleep) in a within-between subjects counter-balanced design. Actigraphy was used to monitor sleep. OCPT sessions were scheduled in the morning and the evening of days following normal and restricted sleep.

OCPT measures demonstrated acceptable test-retest reliability. Actigraphic monitoring revealed good compliance with sleep requirements, and reported alertness reflected significant effects of sleep manipulation (p<.0001). In comparison to performance following an 8-h sleep night, sleep restriction to 4h was associated with a significant increase in omission errors in the high-target section of the test (p<.0005) and with a significant increase in omission errors in the low-target section of the test (p<.01).

These preliminary results support the feasibility of conducting home-based sleep restriction studies and the validity of the online version of the OCPT, suggesting that it may serve as a sensitive tool for assessment of sleep restriction/deprivation.