By Angel Cleare, BS and Sharon Brock, MS
From Oura Rings to Fitbits, wearable sleep-tracking devices are all the rage in today’s technology-driven world. In 2020, almost 30 percent of US adults used wearable healthcare devices. But rather than running out to buy one, we must first ask ourselves, “Do these wearables live up to the hype?” We sat down with a Stanford sleep expert to find out.
“Sleep wearables can be helpful tools to provide insights on your sleep trends over weeks to months. However, if you find that the wearable causes you anxiety when you view the sleep data or becomes an obsession to perfect the daily sleep stats, it may be no longer a helpful tool for your sleep health,” says Cheri Mah, MD, MS, sleep physician and Adjunct Lecturer at the Stanford Sleep Medicine Center.
As Dr. Mah alluded, the quest for perfect sleep data on one’s wearable can ironically lead to restless nights. This preoccupation with perfecting one’s sleep is a condition known as orthosomnia. Instead of winding down in preparation for sleep, people with orthosomnia may feel anxious about achieving the “perfect” sleep data the following morning—an anxiety that can keep them up at night.
“If you find viewing the daily sleep wearable data is causing you unhealthy stress or anxiety, it may be time to consider making a change. Consider switching to only viewing the wearable data on a weekly basis to note weekly trends, take a break from using the wearable, or if you still want to track your sleep patterns, switch to using a pen and paper sleep journal,” says Dr. Mah.
It’s also important to note that the data sleep wearables provide is not always accurate, so we may be feeling anxiety over inaccurate data. Dr. Mah says that although wearables provide reliable estimates of sleep duration, bedtime and wake time, and sleep schedules, research shows there are limitations with accuracy and reliability regarding data on specific sleep stages, such as amount of REM and deep sleep.
Who Should Wear Sleep Wearables and Who Should Not?
Dr. Mah works with professional athletes, sports teams, and other high performing professionals. She has found sleep wearables to be helpful to better understand their sleep patterns, make changes to improve their sleep habits, and ultimately improve athletic performance and health.
“For athletes and other high performers, wearables can be useful tools for establishing how their current sleep trends are, monitoring and optimizing sleep throughout their season, and ultimately, impacting on-field performance,” says Dr. Mah.
Conversely, Dr. Mah says those who struggle with sleep should be cautious of using a wearable and wearables are not intended to diagnose sleep disorders. Many wearables include motion-based sensors and therefore the sleep data can be misleading if someone has difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep. This can impact the wearable’s estimate for amount of time to fall asleep, awakenings at night, and the total sleep duration.
If you struggle with sleep, have insomnia, or have concerns about a clinical sleep disorder such as sleep apnea, Dr. Mah recommends reaching out to a primary care physician or a sleep physician.
“As technology continues to improve, the accuracy and reliability of sleep wearables will hopefully continue to get better. I anticipate that sleep wearables will become even more helpful for clinicians because they provide a longer snapshot of one’s sleep patterns than we wouldn’t otherwise have access to,” says Dr. Mah.
For those who want to track their sleep in another way, Dr. Mah recommends using a pen and paper sleep journal rather than a wearable. “You don’t have to use a wearable to gain insights about your sleep. A pen and paper sleep journal can be incredibly helpful, too,” she says.
