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Narat Srivali and Wisit Cheungpasitporn find wearable sleep trackers may provide misleading information for clinical sleep populations

A systematic review by Narat Srivali and Wisit Cheungpasitporn suggests that while wearable sleep trackers provide reasonable feedback for healthy individuals, they may offer misleading data for those with sleep disturbances or mental health conditions. The review analyzed data from five studies involving approximately 2,000 participants and found that device measurements often fail to capture the subjective reality of sleep quality, particularly for older adults and those with insomnia. Research indicates that a person's perception of sleep often does not align with tracker data, with devices explaining only 2.5 to 16.2 percent of the difference in subjective sleep quality. For instance, a Fitbit device agreed with laboratory measurements in 82 percent of good sleepers but only 39 percent of those with insomnia. Experts warn that the obsession with achieving perfect sleep, known as orthosomnia, may actually worsen sleep quality. While trackers provide objective data on duration and regularity, they may not be fully substitute for validated subjective assessments like sleep diaries. Clinicians recommend that patients who report poor sleep quality despite positive tracker readings warrant further clinical evaluation.

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