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Smartwatch: How Accurate Can A Smartwatch Track Your Sleep?

Mon, Mar 26, 2018

pexels-photo-893891.jpegSmartwatches have been a trend these days and people wear it every single day for multiple uses like tracking messages and calls, for checking the time and so on.

No matter what the brand is, whether it’s a Fitbit, a Garmin, or any other smartwatch on the market; most people use it as a fitness tracker.

But did you know that your smartwatch can also help you measure your sleep?

If you’re having a hard time sleeping on a regular basis, or if you have a sleep disorder, Let me tell you right now that wearing a smartwatch as a sleep tracker is not going to be a reliable indicator of your sleep health.

Especially if you have a sleep disorder, having smartwatches may not be a great help.

The best option to solve and measure your sleep is to have an in-home sleep study for a reliable and accurate diagnosis.

 

pexels-photo-269155.jpegSo, is it still worth wearing your smartwatch to bed?

Smartwatches and fitness trackers mostly have a tri-axis accelerometer in them that can sense and track your movements in every direction.

They use a process called actigraphy, wherein your tracker technically translates your wrist movements into inaccurate sleep patterns.

A report in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine by Kelly Glazer Baron, Ph.D., states that a part of the problem lies in the technology itself as it is unable to accurately discriminate the stages of sleep.

Baron further states that smartwatches and sleep trackers might call it sleeping when you're actually just reading in bed.

 

pexels-photo-374849.jpegAccording to countless of studies that have been conducted, smartwatches and fitness trackers might not have been an accurate device to use for people who are suffering from sleep disorders but for healthy adults with normal sleep patterns, it can be generally accurate enough.

Well, it’s up to you to be the judge of it all. If you want a fully accurate and perfect take on your sleep health, smartwatches aren’t the thing for you, a sleep study is. But if you just want use something as a guide to track your sleep, a smartwatch or a fitness tracker would be enough for you.

The thing is if you feel you're that your smartwatch is improving your quality of sleep and even your life then you can keep wearing it as long as you like. But if you think you may suffer from a serious sleep disorder like sleep apnoea or snoring, conduct an in-home sleep study and it will provide you the most accurate results that your sleep health deserves.