The Impact of Missing Data and Imputation Methods on the Analysis of 24-Hour Activity Patterns

The purpose of this study is to characterize the impact of the timing and duration of missing actigraphy data on interdaily stability (IS) and intradaily variability (IV) calculation. The performance of three missing data imputation methods (linear interpolation, mean time of day (ToD), and median ToD imputation) for estimating IV and IS was also tested. Week-long actigraphy records with no non-wear or missing timeseries data were masked with zeros or ‘Not a Number’ (NaN) across a range of timings and durations for single and multiple missing data bouts. IV and IS were calculated for true, masked, and imputed (i.e., linear interpolation, mean ToD and, median ToD imputation) timeseries data and used to generate Bland–Alman plots for each condition. Heatmaps were used to analyze the impact of timings and durations of and between bouts. Simulated missing data produced deviations in IV and IS for longer durations, midday crossings, and during similar timing on consecutive days. Median ToD imputation produced the least deviation among the imputation methods. Median ToD imputation is recommended to recapitulate IV and IS under missing data conditions for less than 24 h.