Actigraphy for the assessment of the sleep quality and the scratch movement in pediatric atopic dermatitis patients.
2012 Volume 11 Issue Suppl.18 Pages 21-25
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2012 Volume 11 Issue Suppl.18 Pages 21-25
[Background] Good sleep is essential for the growth and the development of children. However, sleep is often impaired by the night scratching in patients with atopic dermatitis (AD). It is important to assess the sleep quality and the night scratching in pediatric AD patients. For that purpose, we utilized actigraphy as an objective method for the assessment of sleep quality and upper limb movement.
[Methods] 30 childhood patients with AD and 14 non-allergic volunteers were recruited. Actiwatch® (AW-64) was attached to each subject's wrist for 11 days at maximum. Sleep parameters were calculated with Actiware® and compared among various patient groups. We also compared the activity count (AC) that represented the upper limb movements. 6 patients with severe or very severe AD patients were also recruited for the analysis of long term changes in the sleep parameter and the night scratching during the treatment.
[Results] Results demonstrate that sleep was significantly compromised in patients with AD, according to the severity. Upper limb movements in AD patients remarkably increased, according to the severity. Subjective scoring of the sleep quality by parents showed limited correlation with actigraphy. Sleep quality of AD patients has improved quickly during treatment. However, scratch movement remained even after three-month treatment.
[Conclusion] Actigraphy is an objective and unobtrusive method to measure the sleep quality and the night scratching in childhood AD patients and can provide useful outcome in clinical trial.Skin Research, Suppl. 18: 21-25, 2012
