Sleep-wake circadian rhythm pattern in young adults by actigraphy during social isolation

This study investigated, through wrist actigraphy, the activity-rest pattern, estimate nocturnal sleep parameters, and quantify the exposure of light (daylight and blue light) during social isolation due to COVID-19.

The participants (n = 19, aged 19 - 33 years-old) wore the actigraph in nondominant wrist for 7 days. Derivation of 25 nocturnal sleep parameters was inferred from PIM mode raw data including sleep, wake, activity, and fragmentation statistics. A hierarchical cluster analysis determined the participants profiles. Mann-Whitney and independent Student t tests, linear stepwise regression and Kendalls test were applied. The significant level was a = 0.05.

Two clusters were formed, normal sleepers (n = 13) and short sleepers (n = 6). The participants of both clusters went to sleep after midnight, spent approximately 1 h of being awake during time in bed, their latency to persistent sleep was normal, though true sleep minutes was less than 7 h, showed a normal sleep efficiency. Daytime activity was moderate, and a circadian rhythm was irregular. The regressions showed that bedtime and nocturnal activity contributed to the variance of daytime activity and the beginning of it (p< 0.001). The midpoint during the time in bed was the most significant predictor for the start of less period activity at night (p< 0.001).

Actigraphy inferred that during social isolation the individuals presented, despite normal sleep latency and efficiency, inconsistent sleep parameters and irregular circadian rhythm. Moreover, decreased exposure to daylight during the morning was observed.