title: Orthosomnia: Are Some Patients Taking the Quantified Self Too Far?
abstract: The use of wearable sleep tracking devices is rapidly expanding and provides an opportunity to engage individuals in monitoring of their sleep patterns. However, there are a growing number of patients who are seeking treatment for self-diagnosed sleep disturbances such as insufficient sleep duration and insomnia due to periods of light or restless sleep observed on their sleep tracker data. The patients' inferred correlation between sleep tracker data and daytime fatigue may become a perfectionistic quest for the ideal sleep in order to optimize daytime function. To the patients, sleep tracker data often feels more consistent with their experience of sleep than validated techniques, such as polysomnography or actigraphy. The challenge for clinicians is balancing educating patients on the validity of these devices with patients' enthusiasm for objective data. Incorporating the use of sleep trackers into cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia will be important as use of these devices is rapidly expanding among our patient population.
authors.affiliation: Rush University Medical School, Chicago IL.
authors.forename: Kelly Glazer
authors.initials: KG
authors.lastname: Baron
authors.affiliation: Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL.
authors.forename: Sabra
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Abbott
authors.affiliation: Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL.
authors.forename: Nancy
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Jao
authors.affiliation: Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL.
authors.forename: Natalie
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Manalo
authors.affiliation: Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL.
authors.forename: Rebecca
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Mullen
mesh_terms: D056044:Actigraphy / Q000295:instrumentation*; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D015928:Cognitive Behavioral Therapy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D059012:Lost to Follow-Up; D008297:Male; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D007319:Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000628:therapy*; D016896:Treatment Outcome
keywords: cognitive behavioral therapy; insomnia; technology