Understanding Wearables and Sleep Quality in Chronic Sleep Disorders, With Leanne Kaye, PhD, MPH

A cross-sectional survey of 5000 US adults found consumer wearable use for sleep tracking was associated with meaningfully better sleep quality in patients with insomnia and comorbid insomnia and sleep apnea (COMISA), while the relationship between wearable use and sleep quality in obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) followed a distinct and divergent pattern, according to research presented at SLEEP 2026.¹

Leanne Kaye, PhD, MPH, the study's lead author, framed the findings around a shift already underway in primary care: "There's a huge demand in wanting to understand what is happening with people's sleep," she said. "It opens up the opportunity to bring awareness to sleep disordered breathing conditions, or just general misalignment when it comes to sleep."¹

For primary care physicians, roughly 40% of survey respondents were already using wearables to monitor sleep, with 15% doing so nightly, meaning a growing subset of patients is arriving at office visits with self-generated sleep data in hand. The findings underscore the need for disorder-specific approaches to interpreting wearable data, as associations between wearable use and sleep outcomes differed substantially by diagnosis.

Survey Design and Sleep Quality Findings by Sleep Disorder Diagnosis

The survey was conducted between December 2025 and January 2026 and recruited participants with age and gender targets aligned to US Census benchmarks.¹ The survey assessed self-reported diagnoses of OSA, insomnia, and COMISA alongside sleep quality measures including hours per night and days per week with good sleep, defined as waking feeling well-rested. Wearable use patterns were also captured, including frequency of use.

Respondents averaged 6.5 hours of sleep per night and 4.8 nights per week with good sleep. Wearable use was more common among those with a sleep disorder than those without one (54.7% vs 38.3%; P <.001), and more common among males than females (47.2% vs 37.8%; P <.001).¹

Among patients with insomnia, wearable users reported close to one additional night per week of good sleep compared with non-users (β = 0.78; 95% CI, 0.41 to 1.10; P <.05).¹ A similar magnitude of benefit was observed in COMISA, where wearable users also reported approximately 1 additional night per week of good sleep (β = 0.82; 95% CI, 0.15 to 1.50; P <.05). Because the study design was cross-sectional, Kaye noted directionality cannot be established from these data alone.

OSA Findings, COMISA Underdiagnosis, and the Clinical Role of Wearable Data

The OSA findings diverged from those observed in insomnia and COMISA. Among OSA patients, non-wearable users had 50% lower odds of reporting a problem falling asleep compared with wearable users (odds ratio [OR], 0.50; 95% CI, 0.33 to 0.77; P = .002), and 47% lower odds of waking without feeling well-rested (OR, 0.53; 95% CI, 0.31 to 0.89; P = .016).¹ However, Kaye cautioned against overinterpreting the direction of this finding given the cross-sectional design.

She additionally identified COMISA as a diagnosis warranting particular clinical attention. The condition remains underrecognized in primary care, and wearable data may serve as a catalyst for evaluation in patients who might not otherwise raise sleep concerns with their physician.

"It opens up the opportunity to build the conversation and to do something with the data," Kaye said. "Not just say there's data there, but really talking with your clinician to understand more holistically what might be going on."¹

The question of whether wearable use drives sleep behavior change or whether health-engaged patients are simply more likely to track sleep remains unresolved. Kaye acknowledged the relationship is likely bidirectional and noted robust longitudinal study designs will be needed to characterize it more fully.²

References

1. Kaye L, Yu S, Sert F, Sterling KL. Associations between consumer wearables and sleep quality in OSA, insomnia, and COMISA. Presented at: SLEEP 2026; June 2026.

2. Khosla S, Deak MC, Gault D, et al. Consumer sleep technology: an American Academy of Sleep Medicine position statement. J Clin Sleep Med. 2018;14(5):877-880. doi:10.5664/jcsm.7128