The validity of two commercially-available sleep trackers and actigraphy for assessment of sleep parameters in obstructive sleep apnea patients

OBJECTIVE: The use of activity and sleep trackers that operate through dedicated smartphone applications has become popular in the general population. However, the validity of the data they provide has been disappointing and only Total Sleep Time (TST) is reliably recorded in healthy individuals for any of the devices tested. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the ability of two sleep trackers (Withings pulse 02 (W) and Jawbone Up (U)) to measure sleep parameters in patients suffering from obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). METHODS: All patients evaluated for OSA in our sleep laboratory underwent overnight polysomnography (PSG). PSG was conducted simultaneously with three other devices: two consumer-level sleep monitors (U and W) and one actigraph (Bodymedia SenseWear Pro Armband (SWA)). RESULTS: Of 36 patients evaluated, 22 (17 men) were diagnosed with OSA (mean apnea-hypopnea index of 37+ 23/h). Single comparisons of sleep trackers (U and W) and actigraph (SWA) were performed. Compared to PSG, SWA correctly assessed TST and Wake After Sleep Onset (WASO), and U and W correctly assessed Time In Bed (TIB) and light sleep. Intraclass correlations (ICC) revealed poor validity for all parameters and devices, except for WASO assessed by SWA. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first study assessing the validity of sleep trackers in OSA patients. In this series, we have confirmed the limited performance of wearable sleep monitors that has been previously observed in healthy subjects. In OSA patients, wearable app-based health technologies provide a good estimation of TIB and light sleep but with very poor ICC.