MotionWatch 8 Wrist Actigraphy Dataset for Student Examination Stress Stratification into Higher and Lower Symptom Groups

A pilot investigation was carried out using the MotionWatch 8 to collect wrist actigraphy and questionnaire based information. Twenty university students participated during a 2 hour and 15 minute examination period. Data from two students were discarded because the recordings contained substantial signal noise. The final dataset therefore included 18 participants, with an equal distribution of 9 males and 9 females. These participants were further divided into two classes: the Higher Symptom Stratum, consisting of 11 participants, and the Lower Symptom Stratum, consisting of 7 participants. As the study involved a limited sample from a single institution, the results should be considered preliminary and mainly useful for assessing the proposed methodology. Approval was obtained from the Institutional Review Board, and all participants provided written consent before taking part. MotionWatch 8 is a wrist based activity monitoring device designed for research and clinical applications. It measures movement through a tri axial accelerometer and records surrounding light using a built in light sensor. Recorded data can be transferred through USB and managed with MotionWare software, which supports device setup, data retrieval, and subsequent analysis.