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Updated: Aug 22, 2025
Multi-Modal Home Sleep Monitoring in Older Adults
Published on: January 26, 2019
Two nights of home polysomnography in healthy 7-14-year-old children - Feasibility and intraindividual variability
Malthe Jessen Pedersen1, Helle Leonthin2, Birgitte Mahler1
1Department of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, Aarhus University Hospital, Denmark.
Insights
Home polysomnography (PSG) is feasible for evaluating sleep in healthy children aged 7-14. Repeated home PSG recordings showed good data quality without a first-night effect, supporting its use in pediatric sleep studies.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Sleep Medicine
- Clinical Neurophysiology
- Home Sleep Testing
Background:
- Attended polysomnography (PSG) is the gold standard for childhood sleep evaluation.
- Limited data exists on repeated ambulatory PSG in children.
- Feasibility and reproducibility of home-based PSG in pediatric populations require further investigation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess the feasibility and reproducibility of in-hospital attached, level 2 home PSG in healthy children.
- To evaluate the technical adequacy and data quality of repeated home PSG in a pediatric cohort.
- To investigate the impact of home PSG on subjective sleep quality and nocturnal parameters.
Main Methods:
- Recruited healthy children aged 7-14 years for two nights of full level 2 PSG.
- PSG equipment was attached at the hospital, with recordings conducted at home.
- Documented subjective sleep quality, nocturnal urine production, sleep time, and awakenings for one week.
Main Results:
- 32 children completed two nights of PSG; all 64 recordings were technically adequate.
- Mean sleep efficiency was 94%, with a mean total sleep time of 8.4 hours.
- No significant first-night effect was observed between the two PSG nights.
Conclusions:
- Type 2 PSG recording is feasible for sleep evaluation in children aged 7-14 years, yielding good data quality.
- Repeated home PSG demonstrates reproducibility without a first-night effect in this age group.
- Home-based PSG is a viable option for pediatric sleep studies, offering a potentially more comfortable alternative to in-lab PSG.
Objective:
Attended polysomnography (PSG) is the gold standard for childhood sleep evaluation. There is, however, only limited information regarding repeated ambulatory PSG in children. We aimed to test whether in hospital attached level 2 home PSG is feasible and reproducible in healthy children.
Methods:
We recruited healthy children aged 7-14 years to undergo two nights of full level 2 PSG. The PSG equipment was attached at the hospital on the day of the sleep test and all recordings were performed at home. Subjective sleep quality, nocturnal urine production, sleep time and number of awakenings were documented for a week in connection to the first PSG night.
Results:
Thirty-three children were recruited of whom 32 children (aged 11 ± 2.1 years) underwent two nights of PSG. All 64 PSGs were technically adequate for sleep evaluation. We found mean sleep efficiency of 94% and mean total sleep time of 8.4 h. Sleep stages distribution with 5.9% N1, 46.8% N2, 24.3% N3 and 22.8% REM sleep. We found poorer subjective sleep quality, more self-reported awakenings, and shorter total sleep time on nights with PSG compared to nights without PSG with no differences between PSG study nights. No differences in nocturnal urine production were found between nights with and without PSG. The comparison of PSG variables between the two PSG nights revealed no first night effect.
Conclusions:
Type 2 PSG recording is feasible for sleep evaluation in children 7-14 years of age producing good data quality. We found no first night effect on PSG variables. www.
Clinicaltrials:
gov Registration number: NCT03477812.
