Six Things Sleep Apnea Patients Should Know About Wearable Technology

Wearable tech can be helpful, but it doesn’t provide a formal medical diagnosis for sleep apnea. Dr. Muhammad Usama helps you take a deeper look at what wearable consumer tech like smart watches can and can’t do for sleep apnea patients.

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Sleep apnea patients seeking strategies to manage and improve their sleep often turn to wearable technology—devices like smartwatches and rings that promise detailed insights into their nightly rest. But according to sleep expert Dr. Muhammad Usama, these gadgets should be seen as supportive tools, not diagnostic instruments.

Dr. Usama is a Cleveland Clinic–trained and dual board-certified physician. A leading Sleep Medicine expert, he is dedicated to transforming sleep health in the greater Seattle area. He is also an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Medicine at A.T. Still University School of Medicine.

“Most wearables are measuring sleep using movement and heart rate, not brainwaves,” Dr. Usama explained. “That means that they can be decent at telling when you're asleep or awake, but they cannot match the precision of a sleep study.” Sleep studies (polysomnography) remain the gold standard for diagnosing sleep disorders because they comprehensively track brainwaves and other physiological markers during sleep.

1. They can’t definitively diagnose sleep apnea.

Wearable devices have grown increasingly sophisticated, and many can pick up signs of sleep disturbances. But Dr. Usama stresses that these devices have significant limitations when it comes to diagnosing conditions such as sleep apnea or narcolepsy. “They can raise a red flag if you're consistently restless or waking up a lot,” he said, “but they cannot diagnose conditions like sleep apnea or narcolepsy.”

2. A “normal” report might not be accurate.

In their advertising for the Apple Watch, Apple says the device can detect potential sleep apnea by tracking “breathing disturbances … which can be used in an algorithm to detect signs of moderate to severe sleep apnea.” But Dr. Usama explained that users shouldn’t assume that the device can definitely diagnose sleep apnea, and they also should be aware that seemingly “normal” reports from devices like the Apple Watch don’t necessarily mean there isn’t a sleep issue—the specific device simply might not detect it.

Dr. Usama said that, under the Apple Watch’s measurements, a positive indication for sleep apnea can indicate “a high likelihood that you have a sleep problem. But if it is negative, that does not mean that you don't have sleep apnea.”

3. They can provide a “sleep weather report.”

Dr. Usama recommends treating wearable sleep data like a “sleep weather report”: a tool that can alert you to possible issues but is not a replacement for professional medical evaluation. If wearables indicate restlessness or disrupted sleep patterns and you’re also experiencing signs of sleep apnea like snoring or excessive sleepiness, these findings should prompt you to talk to your doctor, he said. “If your wearable data and your symptoms line up, like the wearable is telling you that you had restless sleep, your bed partner says you were snoring, and then on top of all that, you have daytime sleepiness and fatigue, then it's time for a proper medical evaluation,” Dr. Usama said. “We should think of these wearables as your sleep weather report. It’s useful for spotting storms but not a replacement for a meteorologist.”

4. They can make you overly anxious about your sleep score, a condition called orthosomnia.

For patients already diagnosed with sleep apnea, wearable devices can complement ongoing treatment and monitoring. But they should be used cautiously, Dr. Usama said. Users can become overly reliant on their wearables’ sleep scores or anxious that their sleep score isn’t “optimal.” That can become a problem in itself, a condition known as orthosomnia.

That, of course, can lead to a vicious cycle in which the anxiety makes it harder to sleep.

“Your sleep score is only as accurate as the algorithms and sensors behind it, and those vary widely,” Dr. Usama said. “So just use it to guide habits, not grade your health.”

5. They can show you that your CPAP treatment is helping you.

For those managing sleep apnea with treatments like CPAP, Dr. Usama emphasizes that CPAP machine data, clinical follow-ups, and self-assessments of daytime sleepiness are superior to wearable-generated metrics.

Still, he said, wearable devices can provide motivation for patients and reinforce positive treatment behaviors. “Wearables can complement CPAP data by adding activity and heart rate and by showing patients that their consistent CPAP use aligns with better next-day energy and recovery metrics,” Dr. Usama noted. Observing improvements in their wearable devices’ scores for sleep quality and daily functioning also can encourage patients to stick to treatment plans.

6. They can help you and your doctor pick up on patterns or trends.

“The value of sleep tracking is not in obsessing over last night’s score, but in spotting patterns over weeks and months,” Dr. Usama said. That can help patients and their doctors identify trends that might prompt adjustments in sleep habits or treatment.

 “The issue with most of these wearables is that they essentially can tell you that last night’s sleep was poor, but they don’t give you any actionable next step,” Dr. Usama said. So talking to your doctor about any sleep concerns and making a plan to tackle any disorders like sleep apnea is still important.

Ultimately, Dr. Usama advises patients to rely on their body’s feedback and conversations with their doctors rather than wearable-generated sleep scores alone. “If your tracking [device] is telling you slept poorly, but you feel great and function well, then just trust your body, not just the numbers,” he said.