Sleep patterns and sleep deprivation recorded by actigraphy in 4th-grade and 5th-grade students

Ao Li; Siteng Chen; Stuart F Quan; Graciela E Silva; Charlotte Ackerman; Linda S Powers; Janet M Roveda; Michelle M Perfect

doi:10.1016/j.sleep.2019.12.001

Sleep patterns and sleep deprivation recorded by actigraphy in 4th-grade and 5th-grade students

Sleep Med. 2020 Mar:67:191-199. doi: 10.1016/j.sleep.2019.12.001. Epub 2019 Dec 13.

Authors

Ao Li¹, Siteng Chen², Stuart F Quan³, Graciela E Silva⁴, Charlotte Ackerman⁵, Linda S Powers⁶, Janet M Roveda⁶, Michelle M Perfect⁷

Affiliations

¹ Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA. Electronic address: aoli1@email.arizona.edu.
² Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA.
³ Division of Sleep and Circadian Disorders, Departments of Medicine and Neurology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA; Asthma and Airway Disease Research Center, College of Medicine, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA.
⁴ Biobehavioral Health Science Division, College of Nursing, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA.
⁵ Catalina Foothills School District, Tucson, AZ, USA.
⁶ Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA; Department of Biomedical Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA.
⁷ Disability and Psychoeducational Studies, College of Education, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA.

PMID: 31935621
DOI: 10.1016/j.sleep.2019.12.001

Abstract

Objective: This study investigates sleep patterns of fourth- and fifth-grade students using actigraphy.

Methods: The study included 257 students enrolled in a Southwestern US school district who participated in a novel sleep science curriculum during the Spring 2016-17 and Fall 2017-18 semesters and met the study inclusion criteria. As part of this curriculum, participants underwent 5-7 days of continuous wrist actigraphy and completed an online sleep diary.

Results: Approximately two-thirds of the 9-11-year-old fourth- and fifth-grade students slept less than the minimum 9 h per night recommended by both the American Academy of Sleep Medicine/Sleep Research Society and the National Sleep Foundation. The sleep midpoint time on weekends was about 1 h later than on weekdays. There was a significant effect of age on sleep duration. Compared to 9-year old students, a larger proportion of 10-year old students had a sleep duration less than 8.5 h. Boys had shorter sleep duration than girls, and a larger percentage of boys obtained less than 9 h of sleep compared to girls.

Conclusions: Insufficient sleep is a highly prevalent condition among 9-11-year-old fourth- and fifth-grade elementary students. Importantly, there is a difference between sleep patterns on weekdays and weekends which may portend greater problems with sleep in adolescence and young adulthood.

Keywords: Actigraphy; Children; School age; Sleep deprivation; Sleep patterns.

MeSH terms

Actigraphy*
Child
Diaries as Topic
Female
Humans
Male
Schools
Sleep / physiology*
Sleep Deprivation*
Southwestern United States
Students / statistics & numerical data*
Surveys and Questionnaires
Time Factors