Tracking devices have never been hotter. Not only do they measure activity level, step count and heart rate, but many also track sleep, which begs the obvious question: Do they work?
Although they may raise your sleep awareness, and even alert you to a problem, they may also have the opposite effect, making you stressed about the data, according to a study published in Sleep Medicine. “A select few became very focused on getting to a specific number of hours of sleep,” says Kelly Baron, PhD, MPH, lead study author and clinical psychologist at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago. “It’s great to have a goal, but if your whole day depends on whether you hit that number or not, that’s going to make it challenging.”
Self-monitoring is indeed the cornerstone of behavior change, but remember that sleep trackers are only an estimation of sleep, Baron says. Most trackers tend to overestimate sleep and aren’t good at discriminating light sleep from quiet wakefulness (like lying in bed and reading). Bottom line? Use it if you think it’s helping, but if the data is making you anxious about sleep, put that tracker to bed.
Top 10 best-selling sleep trackers at Amazon.com:
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Price: $32.98 |
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Fitbit One Wireless Activity Plus Sleep Tracker Price: $129.95 |
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Price: $19.99 |
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Price: $25.99 |
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Price: $25.99 |
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Price: $199 |
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S+ By ResMed Personal Sleep Solution Price: $81.99 |
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Fitbit Flex 2, Black (US Version) Price: $59.95 |
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Price: $15.99 |
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Sleepace Sleep Dot Sleep Monitor and Sleep Tracker with App for iOS and Android Price: $28.99 |
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