Using activity tracking to measure daily timing preferences: simpler methods work better

Data from 1,055 young adults indicated that the average midpoint of sleep (aMS-acti) outperformed other actigraphy parameters in consistency with subjective chronotype.

• aMS-acti showed better alignment with subjective chronotype compared to cosine and non-parametric parameters.
• Test-retest reliability was highest for aMS-acti, indicating its stability over time.
• aMS-acti demonstrated stronger associations with measures of sleep quality and mental health, such as the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index and Insomnia Severity Index.
• The study suggests that aMS-acti is a more effective parameter for short-term chronotype assessment than traditional methods.

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