Do Sleep Trackers Actually Work?

CLEVELAND - It is officially Sleep Awareness Week.

We probably all know someone who tracks their sleep with a smart watch, but have you ever wondered if those devices actually work? 

“It really depends what you're looking to get from them. Most sleep trackers use a very basic technology called an accelerometer, which basically means they just look at your movement. And by virtue of how much you're moving and what type of movement you have, it can estimate if you're sleeping or not. And therefore, it's a pretty good estimate of the total amount of sleep that you're getting every night,” said Samuel Gurevich, MD, who is a sleep specialist at Cleveland Clinic.

Dr. Gurevich said if you wanted a more in depth look at your sleep habits, a sleep tracker wouldn’t be the most reliable option. 

He explains that the data being collected is just an estimate and could, in some cases, even be wrong. 

So, what would he recommend using instead? 

Dr. Gurevich said the best way to truly know what kind of sleep you’re getting or if you have a sleep disorder is by doing a sleep study. 

It’s considered the gold standard. 

“With a sleep study, we invite patients into the laboratory where we're looking at their brain activity, along with their breathing, and their heart rate, and other parameters. We can tell if they’re sleeping or not, and what stage of sleep they’re in,” he said. “So, if you're looking for really granular data, like how much deep sleep you're getting or REM sleep you're getting, these trackers tend to be much less reliable.”

Dr. Gurevich said if you do use a sleep tracker, it’s important not to get too obsessive with the daily numbers. 

What matters more is paying attention to any concerning trends and letting your physician know.