Cohort profile: TheSmartSleep Study, Denmark, combining evidence from survey, clinical and tracking data

Abstract

PurposeTheSmartSleep Studyis established to comprehensively assess the impact of night-time smartphone use on sleep patterns and health. An innovative combination of large-scale repeated survey information, high-resolution sensor-driven smartphone data, in-depth clinical examination and registry linkage allows for detailed investigations into multisystem physiological dysregulation and long-term health consequences associated with night-time smartphone use and sleep impairment.ParticipantsTheSmartSleep Studyconsists of three interconnected data samples, which combined include 30 673 individuals with information on smartphone use, sleep and health. Subsamples of the study population also include high-resolution tracking data (n=5927) collected via a customised app and deep clinical phenotypical data (n=245). A total of 7208 participants are followed in nationwide health registries with full data coverage and long-term follow-up.Findings to dateWe highlight previous findings on the relation between smartphone use and sleep in theSmartSleep Study, and we evaluate the interventional potential of the citizen science approach used in one of the data samples. We also present new results from an analysis in which we use 803 000 data points from the high-resolution tracking data to identify clusters of temporal trajectories of night-time smartphone use that characterise distinct use patterns. Based on these objective tracking data, we characterise four clusters of night-time smartphone use.Future plansThe unprecedented size and coverage of theSmartSleep Studyallow for a comprehensive documentation of smartphone activity during the entire sleep span. The study has been expanded by linkage to nationwide registers, which allow for further investigations into the long-term health and social consequences of night-time smartphone use. We also plan new rounds of data collection in the coming years.