Self-reported sleep duration and timing: A methodological review of event definitions, context, and timeframe of related questions

Details

• Alternative Title:
  Sleep Epidemiol
• Personal Author:
  Robbins, Rebecca ; Quan, Stuart F. ; Barger, Laura K. ; Czeisler, Charles A. ; Fray-Witzer, Maya ; Weaver, Matthew D. ; Zhang, Ying ; Redline, Susan ; Klerman, Elizabeth B.
• Description:
  Study Objectives:
  
  Clinical and population health recommendations are derived from studies that include self-report. Differences in question wording and response scales may significantly affect responses. We conducted a methodological review assessing variation in event definition(s), context (i.e., work- versus free-day), and timeframe (e.g., “in the past 4 weeks”) of sleep timing/duration questions.
  
  Methods:
  
  We queried databases of sleep, medicine, epidemiology, and psychology for survey-based studies and/or publications with sleep duration/timing questions. The text of these questions was thematically analyzed.
  
  Results:
  
  We identified 53 surveys with sample sizes ranging from 93 to 1,185,106. For sleep duration, participants reported nocturnal sleep (24/44), sleep in the past 24-hours (14/44), their major sleep episode (3/44), or answered unaided (3/44). For bedtime, participants reported time into bed (19/47), first attempt to sleep (16/40), or fall-asleep time (12/47). For wake-time, participants reported wake-up time (30/43), the time they “get up” (7/43), or their out-of-bed time (6/43). Context guidance appeared in 18/44 major sleep duration, 35/47 bedtime, and 34/43 wake-time questions. Timeframe was provided in 8/44 major sleep episode duration, 16/47 bedtime, and 10/43 wake-time questions. One question queried the method of awakening (e.g., by alarm clock), 18 questions assessed sleep latency, and 12 measured napping.
  
  Conclusion:
  
  There is variability in the event definition(s), context, and timeframe of questions relating to sleep. This work informs efforts at data harmonization for meta-analyses, provides options for question wording, and identifies questions for future surveys.
  
  
• Keywords:
  Circadian Rhythm Research Methods Sleep Assessment Sleep Research Survey Research
• Source:
  Sleep Epidemiol. 1
• Pubmed ID:
  35761957
• Pubmed Central ID:
  PMC9233860
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• Funding:
  R01 HL128538/HL/NHLBI NIH HHSUnited States/ ; U54 AG062322/AG/NIA NIH HHSUnited States/ ; K24 HL105664/HL/NHLBI NIH HHSUnited States/ ; K01 HL150339/HL/NHLBI NIH HHSUnited States/ ; R35 HL135818/HL/NHLBI NIH HHSUnited States/ ; 75N92019C00011/HL/NHLBI NIH HHSUnited States/ ; R01 OH011773/OH/NIOSH CDC HHSUnited States/ ; P01 AG009975/AG/NIA NIH HHSUnited States/
• Volume:
  1
• Collection(s):
  CDC Public Access
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:ee901894a736acbd9924004e9cc172a04ac13f62f4f21fe4585595d74df679949f4f6239909282d001c6652576457dc2ba53b5c8b13fcef70e9971b40e4825ff
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/119316/cdc_119316_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 340.18 KB ]