Data from Fitbit users show a slight increase in sleep duration in the US during the COVID-19 pandemic

According to a study of data from more than 163,000 Fitbit users, sleep duration increased slightly in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic compared to a similar time period in 2019.

The results show this average sleep duration increased in almost all groups between 5 and 11 minutes, compared to an average decrease of 5 to 8 minutes observed during the same period in 2019. Sleep time changed later for almost all groups. Sleep duration and bedtime variability decreased, largely due to fewer differences between week-to-week and weekend sleep.

“The most amazing thing we’ve found is that we generally sleep duration increased slightly and sleep variability decreased slightly during the most intense months of the pandemic, “said lead author Michael Grandner, PhD in clinical psychology and is the director of the sleep and health research program at the College of Medicine at the University of Arizona. “It was also interesting to see that the degree of sleep change was correlated with the degree of improvement at rest. heart rate. “

The researchers analyzed sleep variables extracted from data provided by 163,524 active and unidentified Fitbit users in six major U.S. cities, representing areas especially affected by the pandemic: Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco and Miami. The deviation from similar periods in 2019 was examined.

“The results provide perhaps the largest study of objective sleep records of a geographically diverse general population sample during the heyday of the pandemic,” Grandner said. “They are also important because they document important population trends, such as late and extended bedtime. to sleep, perhaps due to home orders “.