Actigraphy

"With its ability to record continuously for long time periods, (Actigraphy) is more reliable than sleep logs which rely on the patients' recall of how many times they woke up or how long they slept during the night and is more reliable than observations which only capture short time periods. Actigraphy can provide information obtainable in no other practical way."

"Actigraphy is also appropriate for the assessment of and stability of treatment effects of anything from hypnotic drugs to light treatment to CPAP, particularly if assessments are done before and after the start of treatment."

- Ancoli-Israel S, Cole R, Alessi C, et al. The role of actigraphy in the study of sleep and circadian rhythms. SLEEP, Vol. 26, No. 3, 2003.

"Actigraphy provides an acceptably accurate estimate of sleep patterns in normal, healthy adult populations and in patients suspected of certain sleep disorders . . . Literature has been published that addresses the use of actigraphy in the evaluation of insomnia, circadian rhythm sleep disorders, sleep related breathing disorders, determination of response to therapy, and in the evaluation of sleep patterns among special populations . . . This literature, in combination with growing clinical experience with actigraphy, led to the inclusion of actigraphy as a measure of sleep duration and sleep patterns in the diagnostic criteria for several specific sleep disorders in the second edition of the International Classification of Sleep Disorders."

- Morgenthaler et al. Practice Parameters for the Use of Actigraphy in the Assessment of Sleep and Sleep Disorders: An Update for 2007. SLEEP, Vol. 30, No. 4, 2007.

"Actigraphy may serve as a useful adjunct to routine clinical evaluation of insomnia, circadian-rhythm disorders, and excessive sleepiness, and may be helpful in the assessment of specific aspects of some disorders, such as insomnia and restless legs syndrome/periodic limb movement disorder."

- Littner et al. Practice Parameters for the Role of Actigraphy in the Study of Sleep and Circadian Rhythms: An Update for 2002. SLEEP, Vol. 26, No. 3, 2003.