Rich data source
In a comment, Adam C. Powell, PhD, president of Payer+Provider Syndicate, a management advisory and operational consulting firm, said “smart beds provide a new data source for passively monitoring the health of individuals.”
“Unlike active monitoring methods requiring self-report, passive monitoring enables data to be captured without an individual taking any action. This data can be potentially integrated with data from other sources, such as pedometers, smart scales, and smart blood pressure cuffs, to gain a more holistic understanding of how an individual’s activities and behaviors impact their well-being,” said Dr. Powell, who wasn’t involved in the study.
There are some methodological limitations to the study, he noted.
“While the dependent variables examined were the duration and presence of episodes of influenza-like illness, they did not directly measure these episodes. Instead, they calculated the daily probability of influenza-like illness symptoms using a model that received input from the ballistocardiograph sensors in the smart beds,” Dr. Powell noted.
“The model used to calculate daily probability of influenza-like illness was created by examining associations between individuals’ smart-bed sensor data and population-level trends in influenza-like illness reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,” he explained.
Nonetheless, the findings are “consistent with the literature. It has been established by other researchers that impaired sleep is associated with greater risk of influenza, as well as other illnesses,” Dr. Powell said.
Funding for the study was provided by Sleep Number. Dr. Garcia-Molina and five coauthors are employed by Sleep Number. Dr. Powell reported no relevant financial relationships.
A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.