Normative reference values for actigraphy-measured total nocturnal sleep time in the US population

Sleep is typically measured using self-reported tools in population studies despite well-known limitations such as random error and systematic bias (1). Actigraphy is gaining in popularity to assess sleep in the population because it provides more objectivity than questionnaires (2, 3). However, there are currently no age-specific normative sleep duration data available in the US population that rely on actigraphy (4). Establishing normative reference values for actigraphy-measured sleep duration in the US population is important in order to have a reference point for comparison, set a basis for interventions, and guide future research. This study is, to our knowledge, the first to report normative reference values for actigraphy-measured total nocturnal sleep time in a representative sample of US children and adults.

Actigraphy-assessed sleep data obtained from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) were used for this study. NHANES is a cross-sectional…