Pediatric motor activity during sleep as measured by actigraphy.

Study Objectives: Provide actigraphic reference values for motor activity during sleep for children and adolescents ages 8-17 years. Methods: Participants were 671 healthy community-dwelling children and adolescents (52% female, mean age 13.5 + 2.4 years) from the United States (64%) and Australia (36%). All participants wore an Ambulatory-Monitoring Inc. (AMI, Ardsley, NY) actigraph on their nondominant wrist for ≥5 nights and completed daily sleep diaries. Actigraphy data were scored with standard methods and a validated algorithm. Reference values were calculated for three outcome variables: percent sleep (sleep minutes/sleep period), mean activity count (average activity count over the sleep period), and restlessness measured by the activity index (% of epochs in sleep period > 0). Between-group differences were examined for sex and age group. In addition, changes to activity level across the sleep period were explored. Results: All participants had a minimum of three scorable nights of data, with 95% having at least five scorable nights. Reference values are presented by age group and sex, and reference percentiles are provided. Boys were found to have more activity in sleep across the three outcome variables. Age differences were also found for the three outcomes, but a consistent pattern was not detected across variables. Conclusions: This study is the first to examine motor activity from actigraphy in a large sample of healthy community-dwelling children and adolescents. Reference tables and percentiles, as well as sample actigrams highlighting different outcomes, are provided for clinicians and researchers who utilize actigraphy in pediatric populations.

The effect of labeling on employee perceptions of residents living on Alzheimer's disease specialized care units.

OBJECTIVES: This study examined whether labeling influenced nursing home employees' perceptions of residents and how those perceptions could affect resident-caregiver interactions. DESIGN: This was a small descriptive study using vignettes and questionnaires. SETTING: Two nursing homes (one rural, one urban) in New England. PARTICIPANTS: Forty-three nursing home employees including registered nurses, certified nursing assistants, activities staff, and others. MEASUREMENTS: All participants read a vignette based on the behavior of a fictional resident and rated their perceptions of the behavior, indicated whether and how they would report the event, and made recommendations for possible courses of action. Although vignettes were the same, the resident label varied: Alzheimer's disease specialized care unit (ADSCU) resident or resident of a non-specialized long-term care unit. RESULTS: Employees who read the vignette for the ADSCU resident rated the resident's behavior as more problematic, inappropriate, and aggressive than the same behavior for non-ADSCU residents. CONCLUSION: The effect of the label of "ADSCU resident" may have implications for care provided in specialized long-term care environments.

Family socioeconomic status and sleep patterns of young adolescents.

This study examined associations among socioeconomic status (SES), SES-related variables, and sleep in young middle school adolescents. Participants included 155 seventh-graders attending two urban New England middle schools. Aspects of the SES environment included parent demographic variables (e.g., income and education), neighborhood environment, and family home environment. Students completed 1 week of actigraphy to estimate sleep patterns. Results demonstrated that the timing and consistency of school-night sleep were associated with demographic and behavioral aspects of SES, whereas weekend sleep schedules were associated with demographic, behavioral, and neighborhood aspects of SES. Finally, regularity in school-night and weekend sleep schedules were associated with demographic and neighborhood aspects of SES.