Comparative analysis of sleep parameters and structures derived from wearable flexible electrode sleep patches and polysomnography in young adults

Polysomnography (PSG) is the gold standard for clinical sleep monitoring, but its cost, discomfort, and limited suitability for continuous use present challenges. The flexible electrode sleep patch (FESP) emerges as an economically viable and patient-friendly solution, offering lightweight, simple operation, and self-applicable. Nevertheless, its utilization in young individuals remains uncertain. The objective of this study was to compare sleep data obtained by FESP and PSG in healthy young individuals and analyze agreement for sleep parameters and structure classification. Overnight monitoring with FESP and PSG recordings in 48 participants (mean age: 23 yr) was done. Correlation analysis, Bland-Altman plots, and Cohen's kappa coefficient assessed consistency. Sensitivity, specificity, and predictive values compared classification against PSG. FESP showed strong correlation and consistency with PSG for sleep monitoring. Bland-Altman plots indicated small errors and high consistency. Kappa values (0.70-0.84) suggested substantial agreement for sleep stage classification. Pearson correlation coefficient values for sleep stages (0.75-0.88) and sleep parameters (0.80-0.96) confirm that FESP has a strong application. Intraclass correlation coefficient yielded values between 0.65 and 0.97. In addition, FESP demonstrated an impressive accuracy range of 84.12-93.47% for sleep stage classification. The FESP also features a wearable self-test program with an error rate of no more than 8% for both deep sleep and wake. In young adults, FESP demonstrated reliable monitoring capabilities comparable to PSG. With its low cost and user-friendly design, FESP is a potential alternative for portable sleep assessment in clinical and research applications. Further studies involving larger populations are needed to validate its diagnostic potential.NEW & NOTEWORTHY By comparison with PSG, this study confirmed the reliability of an efficient, objective, low-cost, and noninvasive portable automatic sleep-monitoring device FESP, which provides effective information for long-term family sleep disorder diagnosis and sleep quality monitoring.