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Four-Year Trends in Sleep Duration and Quality: A Longitudinal Study Using Data from a Commercially Available Sleep
Rebecca Robbins1,2, Mahmoud Affouf3, Azizi Seixas4
1Division of Sleep and Circadian Disorders, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States.
Journal of Medical Internet Research
|February 21, 2020
Summary
Digital sleep trackers reveal women and older adults get more sleep. Many young adults do not meet recommended sleep duration, highlighting a need for further research into sleep health.
Area of Science:
- Digital Health
- Sleep Science
- Data Analytics
Background:
- Self-reported sleep data is inconsistent.
- Digital tracking and wearables offer more accurate sleep estimates.
Purpose of the Study:
- Analyze sleep duration and quality trends in New York City.
- Utilize data from a popular mobile sleep app.
Main Methods:
- Analyzed over 2 million nights of sleep data (2015-2018).
- Examined sleep parameters by age, sex, day of week, and season.
- Used heat maps and geospatial analysis for sleep data visualization.
Main Results:
- Women slept longer (7.27 hrs) than men (7 hrs).
- Older individuals had longer sleep duration and higher quality.
- Weekend sleep duration was longer than weeknight sleep.
Conclusions:
- Women generally have longer sleep duration and better quality than men.
- A significant portion of young adults do not achieve recommended sleep.
- Further research should compare wearable tracker data with research-grade measures.
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