Khaberni - The availability of sleep monitoring applications and the increasing interest in sleep health have led to a sharp rise in the number of people tracking their sleep.
However, these applications may not provide an accurate picture of their users' sleep and might make it difficult for them to get rest.
Scientists studying the use of sleep applications in Norway found that while these applications helped some people, those suffering from insomnia experienced more negative effects.
Hakon Lundkvam Berg from the University of Bergen, the lead author of the study published in the journal Frontiers in Psychology, said: "The rapid development of sleep application technologies requires the scientific community to keep up with these technological advancements."
He added: "It turns out that the younger age group is more affected by the evaluations of sleep applications and their instructions. These users indicated that they benefited more from them, but, conversely, they suffered from more anxiety and tension than others."
Co-author Karl Erik Lundkvam from the University of Bergen explained: "The results also revealed that people suffering from insomnia symptoms are most affected by using sleep applications. The instructions and evaluations provided by these applications cause them more stress and anxiety than others."
Despite the variety in sleep apps, they typically claim to measure the duration it takes for a person to fall asleep, how long they actually sleep, and how beneficial and restorative their sleep is. Since these applications are very new, more research is needed to understand their accuracy and how different groups of people interact with them. For example, we do not know how the feedback provided by the applications could affect people of different ages.
In addition to that, some scientists suggest that excessive monitoring might lead to 'orthosomnia', a phenomenon where individuals become obsessed with the quality of their sleep tracking data, which leads to insomnia.
To investigate this matter, scientists surveyed 1002 adults living in Norway. They asked the participants about their use of sleep apps, their current sleep health, and whether they experienced specific positive or negative effects from these apps.
46% of survey participants said they use or have used sleep apps. Women and participants under the age of fifty were more likely to report their use of sleep apps compared to men or older age groups. While men and women responded similarly to the apps, younger users reported stronger effects than the elderly.
More positive effects were reported than negative ones, with 15% of participants stating that the apps improved their sleep, while 2.3% reported that their sleep worsened.
The most common benefit was gaining more knowledge about one’s sleep (48% of participants), while the most common negative effect was increased anxiety about sleep (17% of participants). Importantly, those suffering from insomnia symptoms were more likely to report negative effects.
The researchers acknowledge some limitations in their research. Self-reported measures are not always entirely accurate, and participants were selected from a group that volunteered for scientific research. This could mean they were particularly interested in sleep already, and therefore, might respond to the apps differently than others.
Berg advised: "We urge people who become more stressed by using sleep apps to learn more about the metrics these applications use and their accuracy. If this does not alleviate your concerns, consider removing your sleep app device at night or turning off notifications. We encourage sleep app users to use the feedback as a motivator to create beneficial sleep habits. For example, reduce screen time before bed."
He continued: "We also encourage people to listen to their bodies and go to bed when they actually feel tired. The bed and the bedroom should be associated with sleep, and going to bed before your body is ready to sleep will make you lie awake in bed, and this could further exacerbate your sleep problems. It is better to go to bed when you really need sleep."
