A Pilot Study of Shoulder Placement for Actigraphy in Children

Children with neurodevelopmental disorders may have difficulty tolerating devices that monitor sleep, presenting challenges in measuring sleep disturbances in this population. Although wrist actigraphy has advantages over polysomnography, some children remain unable to tolerate wrist placement. This study piloted an alternative site for actigraphy in 8 children with autism, ages 6-10 years. Results are presented from the 2 locations (custom pocket shoulder location and wrist location) using Bland-Altman limits of agreement and other statistical measures to compare sleep onset latency, total sleep time, sleep efficiency, and wake after sleep onset. The use of an alternative actigraphy site for children with autism, who have difficulty tolerating actigraphy placement, appears promising and worthy of further study.