One of the research projects I am currently working on is exploring how a wearable technology – the Oura ring – can help older people learn more about their sleep. We are conducting a study to see how older adults (over 65 years) take to wearing them. Will they find the data collected insightful or too much information? What will they pay attention to most (there are many data parameters that can be looked at)? Will they change their sleeping habits in an effort to improve their health?
Many of us go to bed in the hope we will nod off and wake up 8 hours later refreshed and ready to face a new day. However, as we get older we sleep less and more fitfully. I tend to sleep about 6-7 hours a night whereas when I was young it was more like 8-9 hours. I also wake up more through the night and sometimes have to make a conscious effort not to think about things that are worrying. A motivation for our study is to explore how older people manage their sleep and whether this kind of intervention is seen as being helpful.
To gain initial insight into how wearing the ring may increase our awareness and even improve our sleeping habits, myself and my fellow researchers on the team have been wearing one each now for a month. We have kept a diary. My entries were daily for the first two weeks, full of observations and then slacked off. Here are a few from the beginning.
Day 1 Monday 20th Jan 2025
Arrived in the afternoon in a white box that was aesthetic to look at and very easy to open. It felt like an Apple product. It was easy to try on and to download the app and get it set up via Bluetooth. The instructions for wearing it were nice and simple. Much thought had gone into the opening and onboarding experience. I looked at the visualisations on the app for resting heart (it was quite high as I was excited to try it on). I then saw it had gone down to a reasonable score in the evening.
Day 2 Tuesday 21st Jan 2025
I felt that I did not sleep well last night, waking up a few times but the visualisation from the Oura app said I had had a good night’s sleep. It showed periods of shallow, deep and REM sleep. It also said I fell asleep in 7 minutes which seems about right. I fall asleep quite quickly most days. I slept for 6.33 hours. And have a sleep efficiency of 82%. My sleep score (whatever that means is 83 Good). My readiness score was also rated as good, too, whatever that means. Numbers, eh.
Days 5 and 6 Friday 25th/Saturday 26th January
I went to bed at midnight and did not sleep well. The app data reflected this saying I had had only 5 hours sleep and not a good night. So the next night I went to bed early and got 7 hours sleep. I got a sleep score of 89 which equates to being optimal. And a sleep efficiency of 89%. Back on track. Just goes to show how resilient we are bouncing back if we rest up after a late night.
Then two days later:
Monday 27th January
I had a great night’s sleep last night. I got the highest score of 92 with an optimal rating and a crown icon. Total sleep was 7 hours and 23 minutes, good everything else. Text all in blue with no reds. The ‘in focus’ message that accompanied my high scores was surprisingly effective at making me smile. I must be a sucker to gamification. “Your 7 hours 23 minute of sleep last night will help you think sharp and stay focussed. Have a great day!”
It seems this yo-yo sleep pattern (poor night, poor readings, good night, recover, good readings) is part of my lifestyle. The data from the ring has certainly woken me up to this but will I change my lifestyle? Go to bed at 10.00p.m each night after a cup of camomile? I doubt it, not just yet. Maybe when I get older. If the body is so resilient why try to optimise it every night? Or is it even possible?
The new Bridget Jones film “Mad About a Boy” has just come out. The first film, “Bridget Jones’s Diary” (2001) was about a 32 year old single woman who kept a diary to improve herself. I wonder if it helped her to do so and what she does now she is 20+ years older.