How do you make the best use of the sleep data from your wearable?

Insights from the World Sleep Society Task Force on Consumer Sleep Trackers

The World Sleep Society has just published its recommendations on the use of wearable sleep trackers. Participants of NUS 1000SE study could benefit from reading this document which gives a concise background on how consumer wearable health trackers have evolved, pointing out how the sensors in these devices inform about our sleep, physical activity and other physiological measures relevant to health and wellbeing, for example vascular health.

The recommendations speak to users, clinicians as well as manufacturers and were developed in consultation with several parties, encompassing different perspectives regarding how these devices should be used, what improvements need to be made and what the near future might bring. The authors from 5 countries included sleep scientists, technology experts and clinicians. Prof. Michael Chee was the lead author.

Expert recommendations written by real experts

Several commentaries written by self-professed ‘experts’ that have appeared in our newspapers have suggested that these devices are not accurate, cause unnecessary anxiety and cannot improve sleep. In the recommendations, we clearly state that once sleep efficiency is below around 85%, tracker readings should not be taken at face value and if such readings persist, medical advice should be sought. The devices are NOT primarily designed for monitoring sleep disorders although some devices have received certification for the detection of moderate to severe sleep apnea. Having insomnia can also affect the readouts.

Owning a bike doesn’t guarantee better fitness, one has to ride it properly to benefit. In the same way, sleep trackers cannot magically transform your sleep. However, they can help you discover what habits impair your sleep, which support better sleep, and even for sleep researchers, what ‘good sleep’ means. Its more than just hours!

As for causing anxiety, far more Singaporeans are kept awake by concerns about grades, job performance and financial goals than thoughts about improving their health goals.

Manufacturers are increasingly able to set up attractive websites which portray their offerings as dependable but in reality, there are significant differences in performance between offerings from companies invested in improving your health and those out to cash out and jump on to the next big thing. The recommendations provide guidance on what to look for in performance evaluations.

Clinicians who have invested millions in their sleep labs are naturally concerned about low cost competition for their services. A number of them have attacked wearables casting doubt on their usefulness in clinical practice. In truth the emergence of wearable trackers could be a boon to sleep medicine by creating awareness about sleep health and when it goes awry.

What the future holds

Collecting sleep data across different age groups, jobs and environments with reliable wearables will help redefine what “normal” sleep looks like. The kind of data NUS 1000SE participants are collecting will translate to more personalized health advice for many and the great thing about collecting Singaporean data is that we can trust that it will be directly relevant to us.

The team at NUS is also working to get data from wearable devices into the clinic where busy doctors can distil the rich data into actionable advice instead of throwing their arms up over weeks and months of non-standard measures that they were not trained to interpret. The complex process of taking data from different devices into a common platform is explained in the recommendations.

Participants of NUS 1000SE can be proud to be on the leading edge of a health revolution that offers more personalized health advice that meets individual differences. Even if you don’t follow the entire document, we hope that looking at it will give you a sense of why there is such excitement.