Headband device feasible, acceptable for sleep measurements in chronic pain patients

People suffering from chronic pain find the Dreem 2, a novel headband-type wearable device, satisfactory for the measurement of sleep parameters, according to a recent study.

“Over 95 percent of participants were able to use the device to record sleep data for two nights during an allocated study period. In addition, all participants provided recording from at least one night of sleep data,” the researchers said. “In addition, most participants were satisfied with the home study and indicated a willingness to wear the Dreem 2 headband for a period longer than two nights.”

Twenty-one adults (mean age 43.95 years, 80.95 percent women) were given the wearable device and completed a 1-week sleep study. The rate of study completion, defined as the percentage of participants meeting at least two nights of successful recordings, was 95.2 percent, suggesting that the Dreem 2 headband was highly feasible for sleep monitoring. [Digit Health 2022;doi:10.1177/20552076221097504]

Moreover, all participants were able to successfully complete one night of sleep recording, with an overall mean of 4 nights’ worth of complete recordings. On the other hand, participants reported taking the headband device off for an average of 1.38 times during the study period. Overall, 16 incidences of incomplete recordings were documented.

Aside from being feasible, the Dreem 2 headband was also highly acceptable, with 81 percent of participants rating the device and app either extremely or somewhat easy to use. In addition, 91 percent said that downloading the app was extremely easy.

Similarly, majority (76 percent) of the respondents were satisfied with the sleep study, and 86 percent were willing to keep on wearing the Dreem 2 headband longer than the study’s minimum requirement. The headband itself was also highly rated, with 76 percent and 57 percent agreeing that it was somewhat or extremely comfortable to wear while awake or asleep, respectively.

Nevertheless, some questionnaire responses pointed to potential areas of improvement for Dreem 2. Nearly a third of participants found the device to be uncomfortable to wear. Several participants also pointed out that despite having an adjustable strap, Dreem 2 would still become loose overnight and its connection to the app would sometimes be disrupted due to movement.

Meanwhile, more than half (52 percent) of the respondents said that they encountered difficulties in pairing the wearable with its accompanying app. Forty-three percent had to attempt the pairing more than once.

Of note, 43 percent of the participants said that they received no feedback from the app throughout the study’s duration. Despite such technical issues, none of them dropped out of the study, all attempted to wear the device to meet the minimum recommendations, and overall compliance was high.

“The advancement of technology has witnessed the emergence of several novel sleep tracking devices arrive to the consumer market, ranging from accelerometer-based technology to the incorporation of electroencephalograms and heart sensors,” the researchers said.

“Our study offers one of the first reporting feasibility and acceptability of the Dreem 2 headband among chronic pain populations which we hope will inform their use in practice or research settings,” they added.    

“An economic analysis highlighting cost-effectiveness of these novel sleep technologies will increase their potential to become a standardized tool in pain management, where sleep issues are known to impact quality of life,” the researchers said.