All I want for Christmas is a good night's sleep

Sleep is important for health and well-beingnot getting enough sleep can not only affect your productivity and mood, but also increase your risk for health conditions such as cardiovascular disease.

It's no surprise, then, that sleep tracking has gained immense popularity in recent years, with widely accessible wearable devices such as Fitbits, Oura Rings, and smartwatches promising insights into your nightly sleep.

But can they help us understand and improve our sleep, or can they potentially harm our sleep?

The answer is both. When used correctly, they can help manage sleep patterns, but they can increase sleep anxiety or cause sleep problems in some people. orthosomniathis is an unhealthy obsession with getting the “perfect” sleep score.

There are sleep trackers and polysomnography tests.

Sleep trackers primarily rely on data from motion sensors called accelerometers to determine whether someone is awake or asleep. If you are not moving, the device thinks you are asleep, and if you are moving, the device thinks you are awake.

Some new devices can also use heart rate to infer various sleep stages, such as deep sleep or deep sleep. REM sleep (rapid eye movement).

this is, Scientific gold standard sleep research toolsis known as sleep polygraphy – PSG for short.

PSG measures brain waves, muscle activity, eye movements, and heart rate. Additional recordings are often also made to capture breathing, oxygen levels, chest and abdominal movements, leg movements, body position, and even snoring.

PSG's sleep studies document extremely rich and comprehensive sleep data that can be used to diagnose sleep disorders such as: Obstructive sleep apnea syndrome.

However, PSG sleep studies often require an overnight stay in the hospital. sleep laboratorycan be expensive and requires a referral from a general practitioner or sleep specialist. Also, they only report on one night's sleep, which does not necessarily represent a person's typical sleep at home.

Sleep trackers, on the other hand, are readily available and relatively inexpensive. It can be worn every night, allowing you to track your sleep patterns over time.

However, these trackers make assumptions that can lead to errors and are generally not suitable for diagnosing sleep disorders.

Recent Comprehensive Reviews on Sleep Wearables We found that consumer sleep trackers vary widely in their ability to accurately detect sleep stages, particularly deep sleep and REM (rapid eye movement) sleep.

In fact, some devices only manage 50-70% agreement with sleep stages measured by PSG.

Sleep trackers tend to overestimate total sleep time and underestimate wakefulness after falling asleep. For example, in some cases, especially when you're still, your wearable will misinterpret being awake as light sleep.

our work We found that sleep trackers do not yet show strong enough agreement with gold standard sleep measurements to replace clinical sleep assessments and sleep studies.

Can sleep trackers help improve your sleep quality?

Sleep trackers are best used to get a general sense of average sleep time over a period of time, rather than an exact breakdown of sleep stages.

Many people cut back on sleep in order to work more hours, spend more time socializing and relaxing, or wake up earlier to go to the gym.

So, for people who sleep well without any serious sleep complaints, a sleep tracker can help them keep track of how well they are sleeping. Get enough sleep (on average 7-9 hours a night) For adults.

These can serve as a tool for establishing a more consistent sleep schedule and tracking patterns in lifestyle factors such as exercise and stress. For example, if you're a good sleeper in general, it may be helpful to see how habits such as regular exercise are affecting your sleep.

Unfortunately, the accuracy of sleep trackers tends to decrease for people who have trouble sleeping, and sleep trackers can even hinder rather than help your sleep.

People with insomnia often experience interrupted sleep or increased movement during sleep, which these devices can incorrectly interpret as light stages of sleep or wakefulness, respectively. .

This means your sleep tracker may report sleeping less than you actually slept. This can increase stress and worry about sleep, which of course can make it harder to fall asleep.

Alternatively, if you wake up and lie in bed but stay very still, your sleep tracker may overestimate your total sleep time.

Tracking your sleep through wearable devices can also lead to a new sleep phenomenon called orthosomnia.

Perfect sleep or perfect sleep data?

Orthosomnia, or the obsession with achieving “perfect” sleep data, was first reported in the following way: In 2017, researchers in Chicago et al.. This refers to people who are obsessed with their sleep tracker metrics and interpret small deviations as indicators of sleep problems.

This can cause sleep-related anxiety and ironically make your sleep worse. Focusing too much on sleep tracker data can lead some people to spend excessive time in bed trying to achieve a certain “score” or to become anxious about the quality of their sleep.

This can worsen sleep and insomnia symptoms.

Just like checking the scale every day and obsessing over your weight won't make you lose weight, obsessing over your sleep tracker's data won't actually improve your sleep problems.

And it's important to consider how sleep tracking data impacts our perception of sleep quality.

in 2018 surveyparticipants with insomnia were given fake sleep tracker feedback. People who were told they had a bad night's sleep reported increased sleepiness, fatigue, and impaired daytime activity compared to people who were told they slept well, regardless of how they actually slept.

But I want to stop being tired all the time.

If you are worried insomnia (problems falling asleep or staying asleep despite getting enough sleep), be sure to consult a specialized medical institution such as a general physician, sleep doctor, or sleep psychologist, and have the following treatments based on scientific evidence: Please discuss treatment options. Cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I).

CBT-I is one of the most effective treatments for managing and improving the symptoms of insomnia, using techniques to address sleep-related anxiety, improve sleep motivation, and regulate circadian rhythms. Use.

Please check Sleep Health Foundation Insomnia Fact Sheet Learn more about insomnia and effective treatments. The Sleep Health Foundation has links to free and effective online CBT-I programs, including: You can overcome insomnia with this.

Even if your sleep tracking score is good, Still feeling tired or sleepy during the dayyour need for sleep may be high. Try sleeping for 9-10 hours and compare how you feel during the day.

Or you may have a sleep disorder such as: Obstructive sleep apnea syndrome or restless legs syndrome anything that may interfere with your sleep quality, or hypersomniaNo matter how much sleep I get, I feel sleepy and tired.

The best sleep trackers are already built into us

Rather than focusing on your daily score, also consider your own personal perception of sleep. Let your daytime mood be your guide, even if the data suggests you're not getting enough sleep at night.

Ask yourself: Are you tired all day? Are you sleepy? Do you feel good physically and mentally? Need a ton of caffeine to get through the day?

Many of us feel groggy or experience sleep inertia for a few hours, so try not to evaluate the quality of your sleep based on how you feel right after you wake up.

Sleep is important, and sleep tracking has become a popular way to gain insight into your sleep. Using a sleep tracker as a general guide can be very helpful in establishing a good sleep-wake routine and focusing on your health and well-being.

However, if you become anxious about your sleep or find that your sleep tracking data is normal but you still feel sleepy, stop tracking and consult your health care provider, such as a sleep doctor or sleep psychologist, to help you improve your sleep habits. It may be time to have it checked.