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Published on: August 8, 2019
A Narrative Review: Actigraphy as an Objective Assessment of Perioperative Sleep and Activity in Pediatric Patients
Nicole Conrad1, Joelle Karlik2, Amy Lewandowski Holley3
1Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine, Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU), Portland, OR 97239, USA. nicole.conrad@gmail.com.
Insights
Actigraphy objectively measures sleep in children during the perioperative period. This review highlights its use in identifying sleep issues and suggests expanding research for better pediatric patient outcomes.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Health
- Sleep Medicine
- Medical Technology
Background:
- Sleep is vital for pediatric cognitive development and overall health.
- Actigraphy offers an objective method for assessing sleep and movement patterns.
- Its application in the perioperative setting is growing.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review recent pediatric studies using actigraphy in the perioperative period.
- To identify research gaps and provide recommendations for future studies.
- To explore the utility of actigraphy in pediatric perioperative care.
Main Methods:
- A literature search was conducted using OVID and PubMed.
- Articles were selected based on relevance to pediatric perioperative actigraphy.
- 13 relevant papers utilizing actigraphic measures were included in the review.
Main Results:
- Actigraphy identified predictors of poor postoperative sleep.
- Studies examined links between perioperative pain and sleep patterns.
- Actigraphy assessed activity and energy expenditure in various settings.
Conclusions:
- Actigraphy is valuable for understanding pediatric perioperative sleep.
- Future research should focus on predicting functional recovery and testing interventions.
- Expand actigraphy use in high-risk and special pediatric populations.
Abstract:
Sleep is an important component of pediatric health and is crucial for cognitive development. Actigraphy is a validated, objective tool to capture sleep and movement data that is increasingly being used in the perioperative context. The aim of this review is to present recent pediatric studies that utilized actigraphy in the perioperative period, highlight gaps in the literature, and provide recommendations for future research. A literature search was completed using OVID and PubMed databases and articles were selected for inclusion based on relevance to the topic. The literature search resulted in 13 papers that utilized actigraphic measures. Results of the review demonstrated that actigraphy has been used to identify predictors and risk factors for poor postoperative sleep, examine associations among perioperative pain and sleep patterns, and assess activity and energy expenditure in both inpatient and outpatient settings. We propose expansion of actigraphy research to include assessment of sleep via actigraphy to: predict functional recovery in pediatric populations, to study postoperative sleep in high-risk pediatric patients, to test the efficacy of perioperative interventions, and to assess outcomes in special populations for which self-report data on sleep and activity is difficult to obtain.
