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| Dr Sarah Biggs |
Smartphone applications are not the best tool to assess
sleep problems, according to latest research led by Monash University.
With up to 40 per cent of children experiencing a range of
sleep problems, parents are turning to specialised devices and smartphone apps,
although it is unknown if the information from such devices accurately reflects
their children’s sleep.
“Sleep problems can lead to poor daytime behaviour
and learning difficulties,” said lead researcher and NHMRC Peter Doherty
Postdoctoral Fellow Dr Sarah Biggs from the Ritchie Centre.
“Gaining access to a clinical paediatric sleep
assessment can be difficult due to limited availability in the public health
system and recently there has been a surge in the public popularity of
commercial sleep assessment devices which claim to provide users with a better
understanding of their sleep.”
Doctors are also taking an interest in these devices
as they may provide a useful tool to screen for sleep disorders.
Dr Sarah Biggs, in conjunction with the Melbourne
Children’s Sleep Centre, undertook a study of 80 children who attended the
Melbourne Children’s Sleep Centre over a period of six months.
“We asked the children to wear a Jawbone UP®
and an actiwatch, a device commonly used by sleep experts to assess sleep and wake
patterns over time, during a diagnostic sleep study at the Centre.”
At the
same time, a smartphone, with a sleep application activated (MotionX®
24/7), was also placed underneath the bottom bedsheet, near the child’s
shoulder, for the entire night.
“The
results of our study showed that the smartphone application did not accurately
assess sleep, substantially overestimating the amount of time the child was
asleep and underestimating the number of awakenings during the night,” said Dr
Biggs.
The Jawbone UP® was quite good at
assessing sleep, correctly identifying sleep 92% of the time although it was
less accurate at assessing wake, correctly identifying when the child was awake
only 69 per cent of the time.
As these devices are based on movements, the Jawbone
UP® had a tendency to overestimate wake with normal movements during
sleep being recorded as the child being awake.
“While this device provides a fairly accurate
assessment of sleep patterns, it is not so good at assessing sleep quality,”
added Dr Biggs.
“Our research suggests that the wrist-based devices
may be useful in screening for sleep problems that relate to the timing of
sleep, such as behavioural insomnia or phase delay syndrome, but perhaps not as
useful in screening for sleep problems that affect the quality of sleep, such
as sleep disordered breathing or periodic limb movements.”
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