Accuracy of parent-reported sleep duration among adolescents assessed using accelerometry

Parent-reported children's sleep duration is a primary outcome measure in population-level studies, and is the primary driver of pharmacotherapy such as melatonin. Accelerometry using the Fitbit suggests that few adolescents sleep for the optimal 9-12 h as recommended by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, and most parent reports grossly overestimate average nightly sleep duration. Parent reports of adolescent sleep duration are unreliable, and quantitative assessment of children's sleep duration should be considered when a significant step such as pharmacotherapy is undertaken for sleep.