Fitbit to track sleeping habits

[Jolie, BSN]

Does anyone have experience using a Fitbit or other similar technology to monitor sleeping habits for the purpose of improving health?

I have a family member with a chronic condition that we are attempting to manage as much as possible by improving healthy behaviors in order to reduce reliance on medications with unwanted side effects. She struggles mightily when she does not get sufficient sleep, but getting an objective assessment of hours and quality of sleep is almost impossible.

I've suggested trying a Fitbit, and am willing to purchase one, as long as it produces valid information, and not just useless, gimmicky data. Neither the doctor or physical therapist have experience with this technology.

I will Google articles, just wondered if anyone had 2 cents to add :) Thanks.

[meanmaryjean, DNP, RN]

I'm following this as I have a research project I would like to do regarding nurses and sleep. Hope you find a workable answer to your question. I know you can buy actigraphs for research purposes. Let me look around and see if I can find a few to post for you. BRB

[meanmaryjean, DNP, RN]

Movement toward a novel activity monitoring device. - PubMed - NCBI Here's a link to an article comparing fitbit to standard actigraphy. Seems as though it might meet your needs. And mine!

[meanmaryjean, DNP, RN]

The validity of consumer-level, activity monitors in healthy adults worn in free-living conditions: a cross-sectional study. - PubMed - NCBI

[Rose_Queen, BSN, MSN, RN]

I have one that I've been using. I know that I wake up occasionally during the night, and it has picked those up. What it does point out is the restlessness- how much of that is real, I couldn't tell you- I sleep alone and don't have anyone that can confirm that I"m a restless sleeper. However, I do know that the mornings when I don't feel as rested, there has been a corresponding uptick in the amount of restlessness recorded as well.

[Ruby Vee, BSN]

The Fitbit is useful for tracking activity, motivation to move more and for tracking sleep. My main motivation in getting one was to track my sleep, and it's been very useful for that. (As long as I remember to put it into sleep mode when I go to bed and take it out when I get up). I'm getting less actual sleep than I thought, so it's also useful as motivation to change my sleeping habits. I have a FitBit Flex. There's also a model that tracks your sleep without the necessity to put it into sleep mode -- that might not be so good. It works when the FitBit detects periods of inactivity, but if your relative is in poor health and is not very active, it may "track" more sleep than she is actually getting by labelling periods of inactivity watching TV or reading as "sleep."

Good luck to your relative.

[bugya90, ASN, BSN, LVN, RN]

I just got the Fitbit charge HR as an anniversary gift (thanks hubby). So far I'm loving it. It tracks sleep automatically so you don't have to put it into sleep mode. When I'm sitting still watching tv it doesn't track it as sleep because I'm not sleeping. Not really sure how long you have to sit still before it thinks you're asleep. That may be something for you to research if your family member is not very active or immobile. It tracks the heart rate as well which may benefit your family member depending on their medical diagnosis. So far everything with it seems pretty accurate.

Side note-most of the clinic staff I work with including physicians have a Fitbit and our physicians are really starting to recommend them for our patients.

[Jolie, BSN]

Thanks everyone! I'll look into the different models and options. She has an appointment in early July, so we should be able to make a decision by then :)

[NotReady4PrimeTime, RN]

My device is a Garmin VivoSmart. It's simple to use and accurately reflects level of activity and movement during hours of sleep. When setting up the device it asks for the usual bedtime and arising time but can be overridden by manually putting it in sleep mode. One thing it doesn't do well is monitor shift-work sleep patterns. I know without it telling me that my sleep quality when I'm working nights is rather poor, but I'd like to be able to see the actual graph of activity. When I have a good night's sleep it reflects a very lovely sine wave between resting and moving, with regularly spaced but low-velocity movement when I roll over. When I toss and turn the wave looks like a bed of nails, literally! I was a little skeptical when I first got it, but I'm very happy with it.