Collective sleep and activity patterns of college students from wearable devices
Journal:
arXiv
Published Date:
Dec 23, 2024
Abstract
To optimize interventions for improving wellness, it is essential to
understand habits, which wearable devices can measure with greater precision.
Using high temporal resolution biometric data taken from the Oura Gen3 ring, we
examine daily and weekly sleep and activity patterns of a cohort of young
adults (N=582) in their first semester of college. A high compliance rate is
observed for both daily and nightly wear, with slight dips in wear compliance
observed shortly after waking up and also in the evening. Most students have a
late-night chronotype with a median midpoint of sleep at 5AM, with males and
those with mental health impairment having more delayed sleep periods. Social
jetlag, or the difference in sleep times between free days and school days, is
prevalent in our sample. While sleep periods generally shift earlier on
weekdays and later on weekends, sleep duration on both weekdays and weekends is
shorter than during prolonged school breaks, suggesting chronic sleep debt when
school is in session. Synchronized spikes in activity consistent with class
schedules are also observed, suggesting that walking in between classes is a
widespread behavior in our sample that substantially contributes to physical
activity. Lower active calorie expenditure is associated with weekends and a
delayed but longer sleep period the night before, suggesting that for our
cohort, active calorie expenditure is affected less by deviations from natural
circadian rhythms and more by the timing associated with activities. Our study
shows that regular sleep and activity routines may be inferred from consumer
wearable devices if high temporal resolution and long data collection periods
are available.
