Sleep Onset Latency - Home Testing of Sleep Latency

Home Testing of Sleep Latency

For home-testing for an unusually low sleep latency and potential sleep deprivation, the authors point to a technique developed by Nathaniel Kleitman, the "father of sleep research." The subject reclines in a quiet, darkened room and drapes a hand holding a spoon over the edge of the bed or chair, placing a plate on the floor beneath the spoon. After checking the time, the subject tries to relax and fall asleep. When sleep is attained, the spoon will fall and strike the plate, awakening the subject, who then checks to see how much time has passed. The number of minutes passed is the sleep onset latency at that particular hour on that particular day.

Dement advises against doing these evaluations at night when sleep onset latency can naturally be lower, particularly in older people. Instead, he suggests testing sleep onset latency during the day, ideally at 10:00 a.m., 12:30 p.m. and 3:00 p.m. A sleep onset latency of 0 to 5 minutes indicates severe sleep deprivation, 5 to 10 minutes is "troublesome," 10 to 15 minutes indicates a mild but "manageable" degree of sleep debt, and 15 to 20 minutes is indicative of "little or no" sleep debt.