Validation of Self-Reported Sleep against Actigraphy

Sleep Diary is the most practical and cost-effective tool for evaluating sleep habits. However، measurement errors are common issues with self report methods in medical research. The aim of the present study was to evaluate a self- report method compared to Actigraph in assessing sleep patterns in children. This cross-sectional study was conducted on 270 children aged 6 to 9 years who were selected by multistage sampling in primary schools of Tehran. The sleep patterns during a week were measured using two methods of self- report and Actigraph. The parents were asked to report the sleep pattern of their children. The results of the current study indicated that sleep duration determined through the self- report method was overestimated compared to Actigraph (P=0. 001). Parents reported the onset of children sleep significantly earlier than Actigraph (P=0. 001). There was no significant difference between self- report and Actigraph for wake -up time. The findings of this study illustrate low accuracy of self- report method for determining sleep duration and sleep onset in children. Although، self report is a valid method for measuring wake -up time in children، it has a low validity for assessing the other components of sleep pattern.