January 2021 | Reviewed by: Shelley Hershner, MD and John Saito, MD
What is actigraphy?
During actigraphy, you wear a device provided by your medical provider 24 hours a day. Typically, a device similar to a wristwatch is used. The monitor is worn for a few days up to two weeks.
Actigraphy primarily measures your movement. Some advanced devices also measure light exposure. It does not measure sleep directly and uses the absence of movement to indicate sleep. Actigraphy data is interpreted to determine your sleep-wake patterns.
Actigraphy is used, sometimes in conjunction with additional tests, to help diagnose some sleep disorders and monitor the effectiveness of treatments. Examples of how actigraphy is used follow:
- Insomnia — in adults and children to monitor sleep-wake patterns before and during sleep
- Circadian rhythm sleep-wake disorders — in adults and children to monitor sleep cycles over multiple days
- Sleep-related breathing disorders — in adults to track how long you are asleep as part of a home sleep apnea test
- Excessive daytime sleepiness — to track how long you normally sleep before doing a Multiple Sleep Latency Test
- Insufficient sleep syndrome — in adults to track how long you normally sleep
Actigraphy should not be used to diagnose periodic limb movement disorder.
Your doctor will evaluate the data collected by actigraphy and discuss next steps with you.