Sleep and COVID-19. A Case Report of a Mild COVID-19 Patient Monitored by Consumer-Targeted Sleep Wearables

Abstract

Since its first description in Wuhan, China, the novel Coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) has spread rapidly around the world. The management of this major pandemic requires a close coordination between clinicians, scientists, and public health services in order to detect and promptly treat patients needing intensive care. The development of consumer wearable monitoring devices offers physicians new opportunities for the continuous monitoring of patients at home. This clinical case presents an original description of 55 days of SARS-CoV-2-induced physiological changes in a patient who routinely uses sleep-monitoring devices. We observed that sleep was specifically affected during COVID-19 (Total Sleep time, TST, and Wake after sleep onset, WASO), within a seemingly bidirectional manner. Sleep status prior to infection (e.g., chronic sleep deprivation or sleep disorders) may affect disease progression, and sleep could be considered as a biomarker of interest for monitoring COVID-19 progression. The use of habitual data represents an opportunity to evaluate pathologic states and improve clinical care.

Methodologies and Wearable Devices to Monitor Biophysical Parameters Related to Sleep Dysfunctions: An Overview

“…In [110], the authors used wearable devices as a chance to monitor COVID-19 patients at home. In particular, they involved a mild COVID-19 patient, aged 53 years, who already used to monitor his sleep with wearable devices to analyze physiological alterations.…”

Health Habits and Wearable Activity Tracker Devices: Analytical Cross-Sectional Study

“…Wearable activity trackers allow monitoring of daily activity, such as steps taken, timing and intensity of physical activity, distance covered, calories burned, active time, sleep assessment [5], and heart rate [6], and may include mobile connectivity or an internet application. Due to the characteristics of the information they collect, they can be an exhaustive source of information on the health habits of the population that can be shared with health professionals and serve as a diagnostic tool on the quantity and quality of physical activity as well as other health-related habits such as the quantity and quality of sleep.…”