Wearable technology
It is easy to purchase wearable technology that can monitor your heartrate, body movements, and various other health related data and sleep information.
How reliable are these devices?
We can get some useful information but it is not as accurate as a sleep study performed by a sleep technologist and interpreted by a sleep physician. It can be a good tool to help people realize that they have a problem and get help and also indicate the efficacy of treatment.
When using certain devices to monitor sleep we want to compare them to the gold standard of the polysomnography (PSG). The PSG looks at the brain waves, eye movements, heart rate, body movements/position, leg movements, respiration and oxygen saturation. It is a comprehensive test that can determine the presence of a sleep disorder. Commercial devices perform less well compared to PSG in persons with frequent awakenings and/or periods of immobile wakefulness.
Fitbit vs. Actigraphy
Looking at the convenience and low cost of the Fitbit, a study determined that it performed as well as actigraphy monitoring in recording movements. Both of these devices, the Fitbit and actigraphy monitoring, were able to accurately identify sleep, within all sleep stages and during arousals. They were poor in determining when a person went into the wake stage of sleep. This means that a Fitbit can be used for people without sleep disorders and can fairly determine their sleep. When used by people with sleep disorders, they may under report waking during sleep.
Use of these devices gives both the patient and the medical providers information that can lead to further testing, and also determine if certain sleep treatments are working successfully. Having access to this data is invaluable for both parties, it is a technology that will improve and become more readily available.
If you think you may have a sleep disorder, or are experiencing any difficulty with getting to sleep, staying asleep, staying awake during the day, or have any other sleep related questions, feel free to contact Clinique Somnomed by clicking the link below.
We provide quick and convenient sleep testing in your home, in and around the greater Montreal area. We test patients every year for sleep disorders both common and rare.