From the ruler to the smartphone tasks applied to identify sleep deprivation

Abstract

Abstract: Sleep-related health disorders and fatigue represent a major public health issue worldwide. It is estimated that 13% of work-related injuries are attributed to sleep problems. Consequences of sleep deprivation and fatigue not only impact the person, but also can have social impact. Numerous objective tests have been designed to assess whether a person is properly rested to safely carry out his/her job. These techniques are focused mainly on the measurement of response time, alertness and sustained attention proxy for sleep deprivation and fatigue, and they should be properly validated. Over the last 35 years, the Psychomotor Vigilance Test has been the gold standard widely used because it can be performed in different environments and due it operational characteristics. However, validity procedures do not report detailed information about specificity, sensitivity, negative and positive predictive value. These data are essential to determine if the test is optimal for it implementation. The purpose of this review is to go over the evolution of the techniques applied to identify sleep deprivation, starting from the basic and analog reaction test to the most current portable and digital techniques.