Smartwatches are some of the best wearables for sleep tracking, with many offering a morning report on your sleep quality, based on a series of data points. The goal is to help users see where their sleep suffered and areas where it could have improved. However, new research shows that sleep tracking apps like this might actually lead to poorer sleep quality because the user is too worried about the quality of their sleep.
The University of Bergen conducted a survey of 1,002 Norwegian adults and found that 46% had used or were using sleep tracking apps. This use was more widespread among those under 50 and among women. Among those who used sleep apps, the survey showed that only 29% felt the app helped them prioritize sleep more, while 37% disagreed that the app helped improve their sleep.
The real crux of the problem comes from the fact that nearly 18% of users said tracking their sleep habits with an app or smartwatch actually made them more worried about their sleep. The researchers note that this could lead users to become obsessed with finding a better sleep score. In turn, this could impact their sleep quality, as the anxiety around it increases when their scores don’t match what was expected.
The Dangers of Pursuing Sleep Perfection
To fully understand the problem with focusing too much on the sleep score your smartwatch puts out, we need to look at research from 2017 that delved deeper into the growing trend of sleep tracking apps. In a study in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, researchers found that those who rely on wearable devices to track their sleep habits appeared to value data from their smartwatches and their apps more than techniques like a sleep study.
The researchers noted that users created a correlation between the fatigue they experienced during the day and their sleep app data, leading them to try harder to achieve a higher score. Researchers further highlighted how this quest can become an obsession with optimized sleep, known as orthosomnia. This condition can affect those who already suffer from insomnia and can make sleep problems worse in the long run. Indeed, patients may continue to obsess about their sleep scores even after other sleep disorders have been successfully treated.
Placing too much importance on sleep tracking data
The use of sleep apps and tracking sleep habits with smart wearable devices has increased in recent years, according to a 2020 study. Because of the accuracy issues researchers have seen in sleep trackers, they recommend relying on data from professional sources instead of becoming obsessed with what your smart watch or phone shows. We’ve seen reports that Fitbit’s sleep tracking accuracy is questionable and issues with sleep score accuracy on Apple Watches as well.
While you can fix some of these issues, relying solely on this type of data can lead to long-term sleep problems. The biggest problem with focusing too much on the results these apps provide seems to be related to how they interpret sleep data. Researchers say trackers may overestimate minor variations in sleep data, causing unnecessary worry for the user. As such, those who are obsessed with achieving a perfect sleep score might risk focusing entirely on the wrong issues, or believing they are sleeping well when in reality they are not.
