Comparison of Self-Reported Sleep Duration With Actigraphy: Results From the Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos Sueño Ancillary Study

Abstract

Most studies of sleep and health outcomes rely on self-reported sleep duration, although correlation with objective measures is poor. In this study, we defined sociodemographic and sleep characteristics associated with misreporting and assessed whether accounting for these factors better explains variation in objective sleep duration among 2,086 participants in the Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos who completed more than 5 nights of wrist actigraphy and reported habitual bed/wake times from 2010 to 2013. Using linear regression, we examined self-report as a predictor of actigraphy-assessed sleep duration. Mean amount of time spent asleep was 7.85 (standard deviation, 1.12) hours by self-report and 6.74 (standard deviation, 1.02) hours by actigraphy; correlation between them was 0.43. For each additional hour of self-reported sleep, actigraphy time spent asleep increased by 20 minutes (95% confidence interval: 19, 22). Correlations between self-reported and actigraphy-assessed time spent asleep were lower with male sex, younger age, sleep efficiency <85%, and night-to-night variability in sleep duration ≥1.5 hours. Adding sociodemographic and sleep factors to self-reports increased the proportion of variance explained in actigraphy-assessed sleep slightly (18%-32%). In this large validation study including Hispanics/Latinos, we demonstrated a moderate correlation between self-reported and actigraphy-assessed time spent asleep. The performance of self-reports varied by demographic and sleep measures but not by Hispanic subgroup.

Neighborhood Factors as Predictors of Poor Sleep in the Sueño Ancillary Study of the Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos

“…13 This difference may reflect the fact that the accuracy of self-report varies by sex. 31,43 Similarly, we found no evidence of heterogeneity in effect across other important subgroups such as age and nativity.…”

“…30,31 The study protocols used for both the parent HCHS/SOL baseline exam and the Sueño exam were approved by the Institutional Review Boards at each of the participating sites and all participants provided written informed consent.…”

Sadly Awake: Short Sleep Duration and Depressive Symptoms among Adolescents

“…When measured subjectively through self-reporting, respondents tend to underestimate sleep duration [15]. A recent metaanalysis showed a moderate to strong correlation between self-reported and objectively measured sleep duration [16], consistent with previous studies [15,[17][18][19]. Adolescents' estimates of sleep duration are strongly correlated with objective measurement in weekday sleep reports, and only moderately correlated in weekend sleep reports [15,16].…”

Self‐Reported Sleep Duration and Quality and Cardiovascular Disease and Mortality: A Dose‐Response Meta‐Analysis

“…An analysis of 669 participants in the CARDIA (Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults) Sleep Study suggests a moderate correlation between self‐reported and objectively measured sleep duration with evidence of systematic errors in the mean and calibration 97. Another study of 2086 Hispanic Americans suggests a moderate correlation between self‐reported sleep and actigraphy results 98. A smaller study that compared self‐reported sleep and actigraphy in 56 participants reported a poor agreement between sleep duration and quality, as assessed by a questionnaire and objectively measured sleep 99.…”