Experts Warn Smartwatch Sleep Scores May Cause Anxiety

Smartwatch Data Rears More Anxiety
Many patients, often young men, depend heavily on wearable tech for tracking sleep, said Raymond Vogels of the Ruysdael Sleep Clinic. Some of the information is useful, Vogels added; many users, though, get fixated on sleep scores, with the attendant stress and unrealistic expectations.

These scores also had psychological consequences, the Dutch Sleep Institute's Lisette Venekamp said. "An app that gives a poor rating can make people think they're sleep-deprived when they may feel just fine," she said. "This can create anxiety where there's not a real actual concern."

Perceived vs Real Mismatch
"Disturbed sleep patterns" as a result of too many nighttime awakenings is also a type of misinformation, says sleep physician Sebastiaan Overeem of the Kempenhaeghe Sleep Medicine Center, as people often view the wake-ups as symptoms of a disorder - even after clinical tests have revealed no medical issue. "Patients often trust their smartwatch data over a professional's diagnosis," he said.

Venekamp has also lamented the rise of trying to equate sleep with as concrete a number as a temperature. "Some people are fully rested after five hours, but their app is making it insufficient," she said. "Everyone's sleep's look a little different."

Devices Lack Medical Accuracy
Experts noted that smartwatches are not medical devices. Sleeping devices also have become more sophisticated but limitations remain: "You see more and more gadgets," said Cathelijne Gorter de Vries, a neurologist at the Zaans Medical Center "They say that they measure sleep well, but when they measure it's just about the activity or maybe the general sleep rhythm, but not as much about the sleep stages." Professional sleep studies, on the other hand, include monitoring brain activity, breathing, and oxygen level with special instruments.

Although more accurate at-home devices like those adhesive patches and sensors placed under mattresses are coming online, experts are also warning people to not treat consumer devices as medical diagnostics. "Sleep is complex and personal," Venekamp said, "and should not be measured based on a number on a screen."