Sleep-wake monitoring of people with intellectual disability: Examining the agreement of EMFIT QS and actigraphy.

BACKGROUND: Gaining insight into sleep-wake patterns of persons with intellectual disabilities is commonly done using wrist actigraphy. For some people, contactless alternatives are needed. This study compares a contactless bed sensor with wrist actigraphy to monitor sleep-wake patterns of people with moderate to profound intellectual disabilities. METHOD: Data were collected with EMFIT QS (activity and presence) and MotionWatch 8/Actiwatch 2 (activity, ambient light, and event marker/sleep diary) for 14 nights in 13 adults with moderate-profound intellectual disabilities residing in intramural care. RESULTS: In a care-as-usual setting, EMFIT QS and actigraphy assessment show little agreement on sleep-wake variables. CONCLUSION: Currently, EMFIT QS should not be considered an alternative to wrist actigraphy for sleep-wake monitoring. Further research is needed into assessing sleep-wake variables using (contactless) technological devices and how the data should be interpreted within the care context to achieve reliable and valid information on sleep-wake patterns of people with intellectual disabilities.

The effects of a bioresponse system on the joint attention behaviour of adults with visual and severe or profound intellectual disabilities and their affective mutuality with their caregivers.

BACKGROUND: The subtle communicative behaviour of individuals with visual and severe/profound intellectual disabilities hinders the success of their interaction with professional caregivers. The bioresponse system, a tool to raise caregivers' awareness of the client's communicative behaviour, may improve the client's joint attention behaviour and the dyad's affective mutuality. METHOD: Four client-caregiver dyads participated in a randomized multiple baseline study with repeated baseline, intervention and follow-up observations. The bioresponse system's effect was evaluated with measures of joint attention and affective mutuality. RESULTS: Two clients showed a significant difference on one or two joint attention subscales (including one significant decrease), and for all clients, at least one joint attention subscale revealed a positive trend. Positive trends in affective mutuality scores were observed in two dyads. CONCLUSIONS: The results stress the importance of further research to the effects of using the bioresponse system's in daily care for persons with severe/profound intellectual disabilities.