A validation study of a commercial wearable (WHOOP) against polysomnography
Summary
This validation study tested the accuracy of the WHOOP wristband, a commercial sleep tracker, against polysomnography (the gold standard lab test for sleep) and actigraphy. Six healthy adults wore the WHOOP across nine nights while their sleep was measured in a lab. The device was found to be quite accurate at detecting overall sleep versus wake time, performing similarly to actigraphy for estimating total sleep duration and bedtime/wake time. However, when breaking sleep into stages (light, deep, REM), WHOOP was much less precise—sometimes underestimating or overestimating specific stages compared to the lab results. Overall, the device works well for tracking how long you sleep but is less reliable for detailed sleep stage breakdowns.
Why It Matters For Night Shift Workers and Night Owls
For people using wearables to track recovery, WHOOP can be a practical way to monitor when and how long you sleep, especially across irregular shifts. This makes it useful for spotting patterns—like whether you’re sleeping less on workdays than off-days. But the detailed sleep stage data (like deep or REM sleep scores) isn’t as dependable. The key takeaway is that these devices are helpful for tracking broad trends in sleep timing and duration, but they shouldn’t be treated as medical-grade tools for evaluating sleep quality.
Notes
Open access.