Ambulatory monitoring of sleep disorders

• Published in: Journal of the Pakistan Medical Association Vol. 60; no. 6; pp. 480 - 487
• Main Authors: TAHMASIAN, Masoud, KHAZAIE, Habibolah, SEPEHRY, Amir Ali, RUSSO, Michael B
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Karachi Pakistan Medical Association 01.06.2010
• Subjects: Actigraphy - instrumentation; Actigraphy - methods; Biological and medical sciences; Disorders of higher nervous function. Focal brain diseases. Central vestibular syndrome and deafness. Brain stem syndromes; General aspects; Humans; Medical sciences; Monitoring, Ambulatory - methods; Motor Activity; Nervous system (semeiology, syndromes); Neurology; Polysomnography - instrumentation; Sleep - physiology; Sleep Wake Disorders - diagnosis; Sleep disorder; Tropical medicine; Nervous system diseases; Ambulatory; Surveillance; Neurological disorder
• ISSN: 0030-9982

Behavioural and functional activity monitoring has a long history in sleep research. The term "Actigraphy" refers to methods using computerized wristwatch-size devices (generally placed on the wrist, but also on the ankle or trunk) to record the movement it undergoes. Collected data are displayed on a computer and analyzed for change in rhythm parameters that in turn provide an estimate on wake-sleep parameters (such as total sleep time, percent of time spent asleep, total wake time, percent of time spent awake and the number of awakenings). Actigraphy provides a useful, cost-effective, non-invasive and portable method for assessing specific sleep disorders. The present review is an amalgam of current knowledge with proposed clinical application and for research of actigraph. Actigraphy cannot stand alone as a diagnostic tool for all clinical groups. Particularly so with those diagnosed with sleep disorders with significant motility or long catatonic periods of wakefulness during sleep.