New survey data finds more than a quarter of sleep tracker users have lain awake worrying about their sleep score, part of a pattern sleep researchers have associated with orthosomnia.
Sleep tracking is now a routine part of consumer wellness technology, while sleepmaxxing has pushed greater attention toward improving sleep through measurable habits and device feedback. That focus has also raised concern about what happens when users begin treating a sleep score as a more reliable judgment than their own experience of rest.
A MyIQ survey of 6,842 adults across the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and Latin America found that 29% of sleep tracker users have woken up feeling rested, checked their sleep data and then concluded they had slept badly. 22% report receiving a good score after a night they experienced as poor. The results show a gap between how some users initially experience their sleep and how they assess it after seeing tracker data.
The influence of sleep scores also appears before and during the night. 38% of tracker users say they have worried about getting a poor sleep score before going to bed. 27% say that worry has kept them awake while they calculated how much sleep time remained. 31% have moved their bedtime specifically to improve a future score, while 34% have checked their sleep data during the night.
Sleep researchers use the term orthosomnia to describe an excessive focus on achieving ideal sleep through tracker data. The MyIQ survey does not establish a clinical diagnosis, but several behaviors reported by tracker users resemble patterns associated with orthosomnia, including anxiety about sleep metrics and attempts to improve the score itself.
Sarah Meyer, Managing Director of MyIQ, said: “MyIQ is a measurement company, so I don't say this lightly. Sleep data can be useful, but it becomes more complicated when a score starts changing how someone interprets a night they initially experienced differently.”
“What stands out in this data is the 29% who felt rested before checking their app,” she said. “That suggests the score can influence how people interpret their own experience of sleep.”
The survey also found that 24% of tracker users have felt frustrated or disappointed by a poor sleep score even when they did not feel tired. 18% say monitoring their sleep has made them more concerned about it.
Sleep trackers provide information about a process that is difficult to observe directly. The MyIQ findings indicate that, for some users, those measurements are also influencing how they decide whether they slept well after they wake.
About MyIQ:
MyIQ was launched in 2024 and is used by over a million individuals worldwide. It is a digital self-knowledge platform that offers more than an IQ score, with over 9 million completed tests across the various test categories: cognitive, personality, and relationships, all with personalised, actionable insights. The platform offers over 25 brain games, more than 150 intelligence puzzles, over 20 hours of expert video content, and 300+ available lessons on emotional intelligence, problem-solving, innovation, confidence-building, and decision-making. Through its IQ test, full-spectrum personality assessment, and relationship insight quiz, MyIQ delivers structured, personalized feedback that helps individuals better understand their inner world and behaviour.
MyIQ was launched in 2024 and is used by over a million individuals worldwide. It is a digital self-knowledge platform that offers more than an IQ score, with over 9 million completed tests across the various test categories: cognitive, personality, and relationships, all with personalised, actionable insights. The platform offers over 25 brain games, more than 150 intelligence puzzles, over 20 hours of expert video content, and 300+ available lessons on emotional intelligence, problem-solving, innovation, confidence-building, and decision-making. Through its IQ test, full-spectrum personality assessment, and relationship insight quiz, MyIQ delivers structured, personalized feedback that helps individuals better understand their inner world and behaviour.