Sleep patterns and sleep deprivation recorded by actigraphy in 4th-grade and 5th-grade students

Abstract Objective This study investigates sleep patterns of 4th- and 5th-grade students using actigraphy. Methods The study included 257 students enrolled in a Southwestern US school district who participated in a novel sleep science curriculum during the Spring 2016-17 and Fall 2017-18 semesters and met the study inclusion criteria. As part of this curriculum, participants underwent 5 to 7 days of continuous wrist actigraphy and completed an online sleep diary. Results Approximately two-thirds of the 9-11-year-old 4th- and 5th-grade students slept less than the minimum 9 hours per night recommended by both the American Academy of Sleep Medicine/Sleep Research Society and the National Sleep Foundation. The sleep midpoint time on weekends was about 1 hour later than on weekdays. There was a significant effect of age on sleep duration. Compared to 9-year old students, a larger proportion of 10-year old students had a sleep duration less than 8.5 hours. Boys had shorter sleep duration than girls, and a larger percentage of boys obtained less than 9 hours of sleep compared to girls. Conclusions Insufficient sleep is a highly prevalent condition among 9-11-year-old 4th- and 5th-grade elementary students. Importantly, there is a difference between sleep patterns on weekdays and weekends which may portend greater problems with sleep in adolescence and young adulthood.