Smart thermostats provide sleep insights at home

DARIEN, IL – A new study to be presented at the SLEEP 2024 annual meeting offers a framework for an objective, non-invasive and zero-effort sleep monitoring system utilizing smart thermostats equipped with motion sensors.

Results show that smart thermostats identified three distinct sleep quality clusters, with clear variations in sleep duration, disturbances and efficiency. Comparative analysis underscored the heterogeneity in sleep quality, highlighting the potential of smart devices and NextGen IoT data sources in identifying sleep patterns and contributing to sleep research without invasive monitoring.

“Even though these smart thermostats were not originally intended for health monitoring, their capability to accurately differentiate between complex sleep patterns and disturbances were the most surprising part of this study,” said Jasleen Kaur, who has a doctorate in computer science and engineering and is a postdoctoral researcher at the UbiLab, University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada.

The researchers analyzed eight terabytes of data collected from smart thermostats in 178,706 households. Sensor activations were translated into signals that modeled sleep features, and machine learning models were used to discern sleep quality indicators.

The American Academy of Sleep Medicine recognizes that consumer sleep technology may be utilized to enhance the patient-clinician interaction when presented in the context of an appropriate clinical evaluation. However, these tools are not substitutes for medical evaluation.

According to Kaur, the study highlights the potential for smart devices to collect meaningful, long-term behavioral health data in the home for near-real time public health surveillance.

“Quality sleep is critical to people’s health and well-being,” said Kaur. “However, collecting reliable data is difficult as it often relies on recall bias and subjective interpretation; this offers potential for integrating environmental and behavioral health data to improve sleep health.”

The research abstract was published recently in an online supplement of the journal Sleep and will be presented Tuesday and Wednesday, June 4 and 5, during SLEEP 2024 in Houston. SLEEP is the annual meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies, a joint venture of the AASM and the Sleep Research Society.

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Abstract Title: Evaluating Sleep Quality Metrics Using Zero-Effort Technology: Implications for Public Health Dynamics

Abstract ID: 0291

Poster Presentation Date: Tuesday, June 4, 10-10:45 a.m., CDT, Board 107

Oral Presentation Date: Wednesday, June 5, 2:15-2:30 p.m., CDT, Room #340

Presenter: Jasleen Kaur, Ph.D.

About the Associated Professional Sleep Societies, LLC

The APSS is a joint venture of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and the Sleep Research Society. The APSS organizes the SLEEP annual meeting each June (sleepmeeting.org).

About the American Academy of Sleep Medicine

Established in 1975, the AASM advances sleep care and enhances sleep health to improve lives. The AASM has a combined membership of 12,000 accredited sleep centers and individuals, including physicians, scientists and other health care professionals who care for patients with sleep disorders. As the leader in the sleep field, the AASM sets standards and promotes excellence in sleep medicine health care, education and research (aasm.org).

About the Sleep Research Society 

The SRS is a professional membership society that advances sleep and circadian science. The SRS provides forums for the exchange of information, establishes and maintains standards of reporting and classifies data in the field of sleep research, and collaborates with other organizations to foster scientific investigation on sleep and its disorders. The SRS also publishes the peer-reviewed, scientific journals Sleep and Sleep Advances (sleepresearchsociety.org).