Measure of sleep and physical activity by a single accelerometer: Can a waist-worn Actigraph adequately measure sleep in children?

Abstract

Accelerometers could potentially be used to assess physical activity and sleep using the same monitor; however, two different positions are typically used for the assessment of physical activity and sleep (waist and wrist, respectively). The aim of this study is to evaluate the concordance between wrist‐ and waist‐worn Actigraphs for sleep scoring using existing algorithms developed for placement on the wrist. Sixty‐two Danish children aged 10.3 ± 0.6 years (mean ± standard deviation) wore an accelerometer (Actigraph GT3X+ Tri‐Axis Accelerometer Monitor) on the right hip and on the non‐dominant wrist for a continuous 7 days and 8 nights. The minute‐by‐minute sleep–wake agreement was evaluated and the concordance among sleep indicators was assessed using one‐way ANOVA, Bland–Altman plots and Pearson correlations. The sensitivity, specificity and accuracy were 98.8–99.7, 29.8–46.9 and 86.6–88.9%, respectively. Total sleep time and sleep efficiency were higher when assessed from the waist compared to the wrist measurement site (73.8 min, P < 0.001; 12.6%, P < 0.001, respectively). In conclusion, the waist‐worn and wrist‐worn Actigraph monitors cannot be used interchangeably for the measurement of sleep indicators in children using the present algorithms. However, the waist‐worn Actigraph monitor can provide a proxy measure of total sleep time for ranking purposes in epidemiologic studies.

Direct comparison of two actigraphy devices with polysomnographically recorded naps in healthy young adults

“…Although Actigraph has developed an algorithm to scale wrist-worn data to hip-worn estimations, there is little evidence currently available to support valid estimation of physical activity using the GT3Xþ when worn on the wrist. Moreover, a recent study using the Actigraph in children has found, for sleep estimation, that wrist and hip placements are not interchangeable (Hjorth et al, 2012). One important contribution of the present study is that a wrist-worn GT3Xþ is reliable and valid to measure sleep.…”

Is it time for bed? Short sleep duration increases risk of obesity in Mexican American children

“…As such, we reliably examined the association between sleep and weight status. 34 In contrast, Araujo et al examined self-reported sleep duration at age 13 on BMI at ages 13 and 17 and only found cross-sectional associations. 20 Self-reported sleep may be an adequate measure of sleep for cross-sectional investigations, but may be inadequate for examining sleep longitudinally.…”

Brief Report: Influence of Physical Activity on Sleep Quality in Children with Autism

“…The GT3X? uses a validated algorithm that allows researchers who use a 24 h waist-worn accelerometry protocol to distinguish children's nocturnal sleep (including night time wake episodes) from day time activities (Barreira et al 2014;Hjorth et al 2012).…”