A team of medical researchers affiliated with a host of institutions across the U.S. has found via a study of Fitbit data that people who regularly sleep poorly are more susceptible to a wide range of chronic health problems than those who sleep normally.
In their study, in , the group analyzed sleep patterns of 6,785 adults who wore a Fitbit device to bed and correlated the data to the subjects' health problems. Prior research has shown that people with chronic sleeping problems are at higher risk of many health problems, many of which are related to cardiometabolic and . But associations between the two have been difficult to pin down due to the way data is collected in research efforts—typically, volunteers wear sensors as they sleep in a lab for just a few nights.
Such efforts provide a very short window of opportunity. Other studies have relied on self-reported sleep habits, but such reports are notoriously inaccurate. In this new effort, the research team sought to collect sleep data for thousands of people over a long period of time.
To achieve this, they turned to Fitbit, a commercially available biosensor affixed to a bracelet that can be easily worn at night. The researchers accessed and analyzed data from volunteers participating in the All of Us Research Program, which involved collecting nightly data from Fitbit users and user profiles, including sleep and health information. The Fitbit device is able to detect by simultaneously monitoring and movement patterns.