Measuring Sleep Among Cancer Survivors: Accelerometer Measures Across Days and Agreement Between Accelerometer and Self-Reported Measures

Background: The associations between subjective (self-reported) and objective (actigraphy) sleep measurements are not well documented among survivors of cancer. The purpose of this study was to examine actigraphy measurements across days and the associations of two self-reported sleep measures with actigraphy-measured sleep measures. Methods: Sleep data were collected using self-reported sleep diary, the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, and hip-worn actigraphy at baseline for a subsample participating in the Lifestyle Intervention for oVarian cancer Enhanced Survival (N = 516) randomized controlled trial. Intraclass correlation coefficients were used to evaluate consistency of actigraphy sleep measures across days of wear and associations of sleep diary with actigraphy for total sleep time (TST), time asleep, and time awake. Bland–Altman plots were used to assess the associations of sleep duration and sleep efficiency derived from Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index and actigraphy. Results: Participants were aged 60.3 years (SD 9.3 years). For TST, the associations were strongest after 3 weekdays of consecutive actigraphy wear (ICC =.43 95% CI [.35, .51]), and actigraphy-measured daily TST was longest (617, SD 135 min) compared with self-reported measures. Sleep diary versus actigraphy associations for TST, time asleep, and time awake were weak to moderate. Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index versus actigraphy association was weak for all sleep constructs. Conclusion: The strength of association between self-reported and actigraphy measures of sleep ranged from weak to very strong, depending on the sleep construct. Impact: Results highlight the importance of selecting an appropriate measurement tool for estimating individual sleep constructs among survivors of cancer.