The Effects of Subjective and Objective Sleep Monitoring on Sleep Patterns and Attitudes

Abstract

Self-reports and actigraphy are common methods of sleep monitoring. Portable polysomnography (p-PSG) may serve as a screening tool in natural environments. Common concerns with its use are that sleep and compliance might be affected. Further, dysfunctional beliefs of the subjects may contribute to sleep disturbances, which might manifest throughout sleep monitoring. This study examined the effect of monitoring sleep patterns and attitudes among healthy individuals. Sixty-eight physically active university students (26.6 ± 2.5 years) were assigned to the intervention (n = 35) or the control group (n = 33). Sleep monitoring consisted of 2-week online sleep logs and a 1-week actigraphy. Portable PSG was applied for the final two nights. Objective and subjective sleep parameters and ratings were compared between the baseline measurements and the first two nights of actigraphy and the two nights of p-PSG. The participants answered the Dysfunctional Beliefs and Attitudes about Sleep Scale (DBAS), pre- and post-monitoring. The groups did not display any interaction´time effect (p = 0.187) for DBAS. Also, there were no subjective insomnia complaints. Following the nights with p-PSG application, perceived restfulness of sleep was reduced between baseline measurement and the second p-PSG night (p = 0.045). In contrast, the objective parameters showed an increased sleep-efficiency (p < 0.001) and reduced wake after sleep-onset (p = 0.002) after both p-PSG nights. All other sleep parameters revealed no significant differences between actigraphy-only and p-PSG nights. Two-week sleep monitoring had no negative effect on the objective sleep patterns and attitudes about sleep. Yet, sleep with p-PSG led to reduced subjective sleep quality, which was not reflected in the objective sleep parameters. Contrarily, participants showed higher sleep efficiency and shorter waking phases, possibly due to changed bedtime routine. Hence, p-PSG may be applicable for field studies in sport science, provided the participants receive detailed information.