Temporal changes in sleep parameters and body mass index after using a sleep-tracking app with gamification.

OBJECTIVES

We examined whether sleep parameters would improve with a sleep-tracking game app and whether the participants' improvement was associated with changes in their body mass index.

METHODS

We analyzed data from 2063 volunteer Japanese participants (mean age 38.3±10.7years, 82.1% female) who used both the Pokémon Sleep and Asken apps for ≥90days.

RESULTS

During the 90days after starting the Pokémon Sleep app, on average, total sleep time increased by approximately 0.8 hour from 5.5 to 6.3 hours. Calculating the slopes for individuals, improvements were noted for total sleep time, sleep latency, percentage of wakefulness after sleep onset, and bedtime among 45.3%, 18.1%, 24.4%, and 21.3% of the participants, respectively. Body mass index tended to decrease faster in participants with improved total sleep time, sleep latency, and bedtime.

CONCLUSIONS

A sleep-tracking game app improved sleep parameters of some users, and this improvement was associated with a decrease in body mass index.