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Agreement between parental reports and accelerometer measures of sleep duration in primary school children
Ana Duarte1,2,3, Juliana Martins4,5,6, Rafaela Rosário4,5,6
1Health Sciences Research Unit: Nursing (UICISA: E), Nursing School of Coimbra, Avenida Bissaya Barreto, Polo C, Coimbra, 3046-851, Portugal. anacspduarte@gmail.com.
Insights
Parents often overestimate children's sleep duration. Objective measures like accelerometry are crucial for accurate sleep assessment in school-aged children, especially those from vulnerable backgrounds.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Sleep Science
- Child Development Research
- Public Health Nutrition
Background:
- Sleep duration is vital for children's health, cognition, and behavior.
- Accurate sleep assessment is challenging due to discrepancies between parent reports and objective measures.
- Socially vulnerable children may have unique sleep patterns requiring specific study.
Purpose of the Study:
- To examine the agreement between accelerometer-measured and parent-reported sleep duration.
- To investigate sleep assessment accuracy in school-aged children from socially vulnerable contexts.
- To highlight the need for reliable sleep measurement methods in pediatric research.
Main Methods:
- Utilized accelerometry for objective sleep duration measurement over seven consecutive days.
- Collected parent-reported sleep duration data for comparison.
- Analyzed data from 735 school-aged children in primary schools.
Main Results:
- Significant discrepancies were found between accelerometer and parent-reported sleep duration.
- Parents generally overestimated their children's sleep duration.
- Parental reports showed poor predictive accuracy for actual sleep duration.
Conclusions:
- Objective methods like accelerometry are essential for accurate sleep assessment in children.
- Parental overestimation of sleep duration is a significant issue, particularly in vulnerable populations.
- Findings support the need for improved sleep monitoring in public health initiatives for disadvantaged children.
Abstract:
Sleep plays a critical role in children's health and development, with sleep duration being one of the most commonly analyzed measures by researchers. Accurate assessment of sleep duration in school-aged children is crucial for understanding its impact on cognitive development, behavior, and overall health. However, discrepancies between parent-reported sleep duration and objective measurements, such as accelerometry, pose challenges in assessing sleep patterns in children. This study examines the agreement between accelerometer-measured and parent-reported sleep duration in school-aged children from socially vulnerable contexts. A total of 735 children from primary schools wore accelerometers for seven consecutive days, while parents reported their children's sleep duration. The results revealed significant discrepancies, with parents generally overestimating sleep duration and demonstrating poor predictive accuracy. These findings underscore the need for more reliable methods in assessing sleep duration in children from socially vulnerable backgrounds. By highlighting the discrepancy between accelerometer data and parent reports, the study emphasizes the importance of objective measurements in sleep research. The study's implications are particularly relevant for public health initiatives aimed at promoting healthy sleep habits among children in socioeconomically disadvantaged communities.
