Sleep stage accuracy

[Moonflake]

I was really pleased to get the sleep stages update on my blaze but wonder how accurate it is compared to pre-update. Before the update, my average sleep was 4-5 hrs with 1 1/2 hrs awake. Immediately since the update, my sleep is 6-7hrs with 30mins awake. I haven't done anything different and still wake up exhausted!

Moderator edit: format

[SilviaFitbit]

It's great to have you here @Moonflake! There's a difference between how Fitbit Blaze used to track your sleep, check the explanation below: 

- Normal tracking sleep detection

Time asleep is calculated by subtracting your time awake or restless from the overall tracked time. For example, if you slept eight hours, but woke up two times for 15 minutes each, the time asleep will show 7 hr 30 min. Here's more information How do I track my sleep?

- Sleep stages

Fitbit estimates your sleep stages using a combination of your movement and heart-rate patterns. When you haven’t moved for about an hour, your tracker assumes that you’re asleep. Additional data—such as the length of time your movements are indicative of sleep behavior (such as rolling over, etc.)—help confirm that you’re asleep. While you’re sleeping, your device tracks the beat-to-beat changes in your heart rate, known as heart rate variability (HRV), which fluctuate as you transition between light sleep, deep sleep, and REM sleep stages. When you sync your tracker in the morning, we use your movement and heart rate patterns to estimate your sleep cycles from the previous night. You can continue learning about it by checking What should I know about sleep stages?.

Hope this helps. 

[CrystalBallz]

I wonder the same myself! Before the update, I was "sleeping" only 3-4 hours a night. Restless or awake more than 50% of the night. Now I appear to be sleeping 6-7 hours and am awake <1hr per night. It makes me wonder - have I been getting this much sleep all along, or is the update giving me incorrect readings? 

I too, am still as exhausted as ever.

[Kellymsmith01]

I am equally confused but having quite the opposite problem! I was seeing a solid 7 hrs a night with very little restlessness. Now with the new sleep stages I am suddenly averaging 30 to 40 minutes of wake time a night. So now it only records about 6.5 hours of sleep. I worry about the accuracy because while some nights I can clearly remember moving a lot or looking at the clock, I have other nights where I woke up in the exact same position I started in and don't recall looking at the clock at all. The frustrating part is I have sleep goals with Humana Go365 and get points for sleeping 7 hrs a night or more and all of the sudden I am missing this goal!

[Emste26]

I've got the same problem as Kelly.. my sleep has gone down from an average of 7-8 to just under 6. I don't feel like I'm sleeping worse and I wake up well rested, so I'm thinking the accuracy of the sleep stages could be off for me.

[SilviaFitbit]

Hey there @CrystalBallz, @Kellymsmith01 and @Emste26. There will be a difference as it's a new way Fitbit will track your sleep. However, you can learn more about sleep stages by checking this article. 

Also, sleep stages are traditionally measured in a lab using an electroencephalogram to detect brain activity along with other systems to monitor eye and muscle activity. While this method is the gold standard for measuring sleep stages (source), your tracker can estimate your sleep stages in a more comfortable, convenient way.

Hope this helps. 

[DukeofCI]

I'm running into a different problem.  It looks like I slept a little more than 9 hours from when I went to bed but the time says I slept over 16 hours!  Plus, apparently I was awake 32 times through this very long night.  Has this happened to anyone?

[meresydotes]

@Kellymsmith01 @Emste26 I'm having the same problem as you two. I used to log between 7.5-8 hours every night and now it's way down. I usually manually adjust the times to match the time I was actually in bed (have had to do this since Fitbit took away manual sleep mode in the newer models). I'll see the sleep time adjust upwards to what is normal for me, then it will quickly adjust back down to somewhere in between what it originally recorded and what it changed to after I fixed the times.

I spend over 8.5 hours in bed every night (I need my sleep!) and I usually fall asleep pretty quickly and sleep pretty well, though I do tend to get up at least once or twice to use the bathroom. So the sleep stages make no sense.

[Bblaze]

I am having the same issue. It says that I'm getting almost double the amount I actually am getting 

[Markaaro]

Duke,

I'm also suffering the same problem as you.  I used to sleep 5 to 6 hours a night, now all the sudden on the Dashboard it's saying numbers like 12 to 15, but when I actually click on the sleep tab, it gives the real number which I know is right, again, usually 5 to 6 hours.  I've also went from on average waking up two to four times a night to now 20 to 50 times awake throughout the night.  Not sure what is going on...

[mikewing]

@SilviaFitbit if the fitbit isn't going to acurately gauge sleep stages then why do it at all. The whole point is for somone to be able to look back and assess their sleep but if none of the information is accurate then it's no good to anyone and people are going to think their is something wrong with them based on incorrect data. 

Before the upgrade to this new tracking system I was awake for a few minutes a night tops. Now, since the update, I'm managing to be awake and restless consistently over an hour and this simply isn't possible. I sleep like a rock and very very rarely wake up.

If fitbit is just going to be using educated guesses that aren't accurate i would rather not have the data at all. I've been to a sleep clinic and I know what goes into properly fading sleep and there's no way the data that you're getting from my heart rate are accurate. Its just not possible.

[Kellymsmith01]

Well, I have e-mailed Fitbit back and forth extensively. I read every help article they posted trying to find an answer, and I even read one of the research studies they referenced when they explained how they got their baseline data and norms for age groups, etc...

And I totally agree with @mikewing on this one...why Fitbit decided to use wrist-based data when the study clearly used EEG data on people in a lab for one night. And on a relatively small sample size.  Clearly this is not how the rest of us are measuring sleep. 

Basically, the new data is now counting awake and restless both as awake, when before "restless" minutes weren't distracted from sleep. I don't like this but it looks like it's not going anywhere. At least not until there's another big update. 

I did find a solution that worked for me though. It's not as elegant, but I'm happy with it...From the app, when you're ready for bed, you can manually start sleep and it bypasses the sleep stages and goes back to the more basic data you started with. For me, it's enough. I felt like the older data was more accurate for me so I will default to that when I can. You just have to remember before you go to bed! But at least I'm meeting my sleep goals and getting the data I need for Humana Go365. 

[mikewing]

@Kellymsmith01 what fitbit do you have? And how do you manually start sleep?

[meresydotes]

@mikewing The only way to manually start sleep in current fitbit models is in the app. It used to be that you could manually start sleep on the device. I could even do this on my Charge HR. I guess fitbit decided that their automatic sleep tracking was so accurate that they could remove this feature. I really wish they'd add it back again, as I have to manually adjust my sleep times EVERY MORNING (I'm not willing to take my phone to bed with me to start and stop sleep in the app).

[mikewing]

@meresydotes thanks I'll give it a try.

[Kellymsmith01]

@mikewing I have the Blaze. To manually start sleep, open up the app and press the sleep tile. Then press the "+" sign in the top right corner and select "begin sleep now". Then I just put my phone down and when I pick it up in the morning I manually end sleep. Then it tracks my sleep but with the old format that just tracks awake time only when you are really highly restless or getting steps. 

[JDG4UA]

I'm having the same issue. It took the sleep stages about a week after the update to start working and my sleep times are way different. My setting is on sensitive because I know I have sleep issues. Before the stages started working it reported that I was only sleeping between 4-5 hours per night which I felt was correct because I was waking up a lot. Now with the stages still set on sensitive it says I'm sleeping 7-8 hours a night which I know can't be correct. You would think adding heart rate and better algorithms it would be more accurate. I may try starting my sleep in the app as someone else stated until they can fix the stages where it's more accurate. 

[IowaGirl75]

I wanted to share on this community that the Blaze sleep tracking is not a replacement for getting a sleep study done.  if you are tired, go to a doctor and get some answers!  I have narcolepsy and my doctor recommended a fitbit years ago, I had used the band with the lights until it quite working.  What that band told me is that I wasn't getting good sleep and pushed me to find out why, which then led to my condition being diagnosed.  Now I purchased a Blaze and I don't think it is 100% accurate but what I find is that it helps track patterns of my own sleep habits and can identify areas where I can improve. 

I do have an issue where it won't start my sleep cycle until 3am sometimes and that frustrates me, but the overall app data has been helpful.

[marez111]

To me, what fitbit does is try and guesstimate. If I wake up at 7 am and stay in bed wide awake trying to go back to sleep and can't, and then get out of bed 2 hrs late at 9 am, fitbit decides I was sleeping from 7 to 9 am by doing  some calculations (guesses) based on movement and heart rate among others. It always asummes I'm  sleeping until I get out of bed. Fitbit just makes all kinds of guesses and uses body data to claim acuracy.  Dissapointing. I know the sleep results are very inaccurate.  I wonder about the rest of the results we get. 

[meresydotes]

@marez111 It's interesting that you have that experience. One of the reasons I don't like the automatic sleep tracking is because I need to manually adjust the hours in bed every day. In 99/100 cases, fitbit thinks I'm awake/ not in bed when I am sleeping/ in bed. Every now and again, it thinks I'm still sleeping during my early morning run, which is always interesting.

Since the sleep stages were introduced, it also seems to think I spend a lot more time awake and in bed than it seems to me that I do, and also that it used to think I did. I used to regularly have 8 hours sleeping tracked. Now, with the sleep stages, The highest it goes is a little over 7.5. I spend over 8.5 hours in bed every night and I really don't think I'm spending over an hour of it awake.