title: Fully automated waist-worn accelerometer algorithm for detecting children's sleep-period time separate from 24-h physical activity or sedentary behaviors.
abstract: Analysis of 24-h waist-worn accelerometer data for physical activity and sedentary behavior requires that sleep-period time (from sleep onset to the end of sleep, including all sleep epochs and wakefulness after onset) is first identified. To identify sleep-period time in children in this study, we evaluated the validity of a published automated algorithm that requires nonaccelerometer bed- and wake-time inputs, relative to a criterion expert visual analysis of minute-by-minute waist-worn accelerometer data, and validated a refined fully automated algorithm. Thirty grade 4 schoolchildren (50% girls) provided 24-h waist-worn accelerometry data. Expert visual inspection (criterion), a published algorithm (Algorithm 1), and 2 additional automated refinements (Algorithm 2, which draws on the instrument's inclinometer function, and Algorithm 3, which focuses on bedtime and wake time points) were applied to a standardized 24-h time block. Paired t tests were used to evaluate differences in mean sleep time (expert criterion minus algorithm estimate). Compared with the criterion, Algorithm 1 and Algorithm 2 significantly overestimated sleep time by 43 min and 90 min, respectively. Algorithm 3 produced the smallest mean difference (2 min), and was not significantly different from the criterion. Relative to expert visual inspection, our automated Algorithm 3 produced an estimate that was precise and within expected values for similarly aged children. This fully automated algorithm for 24-h waist-worn accelerometer data will facilitate the separation of sleep time from sedentary behavior and physical activity of all intensities during the remainder of the day.
authors.affiliation: Pennington Biomedical Research Center, 6400 Perkins Road, Baton Rouge, LA 70808, USA.
authors.forename: Catrine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Tudor-Locke
authors.forename: Tiago V
authors.initials: TV
authors.lastname: Barreira
authors.forename: John M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Schuna
authors.forename: Emily F
authors.initials: EF
authors.lastname: Mire
authors.forename: Peter T
authors.initials: PT
authors.lastname: Katzmarzyk
mesh_terms: D061725:Accelerometry / Q000295:instrumentation*; D000465:Algorithms; D001331:Automation; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009043:Motor Activity; D057185:Sedentary Behavior; D012890:Sleep; D013997:Time Factors