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Published on: October 2, 2019
Comparison between actigraphy and parental reporting for sleep assessment in hospitalized infants
Simone Ceratto1, Paola Dalmasso2, Roberto Miniero3
1Regina Margherita Children's Hospital, Città della Salute e della Scienza di Torino, Turin, Italy.
Insights
Actigraphy and parental diaries show low agreement for infant sleep monitoring. Actigraphy offers an easier method but requires analysis alongside movement data for accurate sleep assessment in infants.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Sleep Medicine
- Biomedical Data Analysis
Background:
- Infant sleep monitoring is crucial for development.
- Parental diaries and actigraphy are common assessment methods.
- Evaluating concordance between these methods is essential for reliable data.
Purpose of the Study:
- To compare sleep data from actigraphy with parental diaries in hospitalized infants.
- To assess the concordance between actigraphy and parental reports for sleep parameters.
Main Methods:
- 55 hospitalized infants (1-12 months) were monitored for 24 hours.
- Sleep times and awakenings were recorded using actigraphy and parental diaries.
- Actigraphy data were analyzed using Sadeh's algorithm.
Main Results:
- A low concordance (≤0.66) was found between actigraphy and diaries.
- Significant differences were observed in total sleep time and awakenings (P<0.0001).
- Concordance varied based on infant health status and feeding type.
Conclusions:
- Actigraphy and parental reporting demonstrate low agreement for infant sleep assessment.
- Actigraphy may be more practical than diaries but needs integration with movement data.
- Further refinement in actigraphy analysis is recommended for infant sleep studies.
Background:
Our aim is to compare data obtained through actigraphy with data from parental diaries to evaluate their concordance.
Methods:
We enrolled 55 hospitalized infants aged 1-12 months with a gestational age higher than 35 weeks and without sleep disorders, complications due to perinatal events or movement deficits. They were monitored using both methods for 24 hours. Total diurnal and nocturnal sleep times and the numbers of awakenings were evaluated. Actigraph data were analyzed with Sadeh's algorithm.
Results:
Sleep time was analyzed in 51 infants. The average sleep time was 724.33 (±104.69) minutes according to the diaries and 625.18 (±109.14) minutes according to the actigraphy data, yielding a difference of 99.16 (±97.53) minutes (P<0.0001). The average number of awakenings was 8.65 (±3.78) according to the diaries and 13.43 (±5.09) according to the actigraphy data, with a difference of -4.78 (±4.50) (P<0.0001). A low concordance (≤0.66) was found between the two methods. The two methods provided different results (P<0.05) regarding nocturnal and diurnal sleep. After accounting for differences in disease and feeding types, the actigraphy and diary data were significantly different except for the number of daily awakenings. Concordances were higher in infants with respiratory diseases and those who were breastfed, except for the evaluation of nocturnal sleep.
Conclusions:
Concordance between actigraphy and parental reporting is low. Actigraphy may be a useful and easy to use method for collecting data on infants' sleep than a parental diary, but actigraphy data should be analyzed in conjunction with infants' passive movement records.
