A narrative review on in-flight use of consumer sleep technologies for aviation research

Reviews use of consumer sleep trackers for sleep in flight (bunk / seat rest). Concludes they are not validated for in-flight conditions, so model inputs from them need caution.

Aviation is a global safety-sensitive industry that employs strict guidance about the monitoring and management of fatigue. Ecological sleep data is routinely collected to assess fatigue risk in flight crew during long-haul operations for safety and regulatory purposes. There is a growing body of scientific literature that supports the evaluation and use of consumer sleep technologies (CSTs) for ecological research. CSTs have the potential to facilitate longitudinal monitoring of sleep and fatigue in the aviation context and thus improve not only the health and well-being of flight crew but the safety of their passengers as well. However, CSTs have not been robustly studied for the measurement of in-flight sleep. Flight crew regularly take in-flight rest opportunities to mitigate fatigue when the opportunity arises and it is legally permitted. Technologies that cannot accurately capture in-flight sleep are not a reliable method to use for aviation research. The goal of this narrative review is to describe how CSTs could potentially be used to collect sleep data, specifically in the in-flight environment, based on existing guidance from the scientific and regulatory literature on fatigue risk management. Aviation stakeholders and the sleep science community should work together to develop criteria for the appropriate testing and use of CSTs as part of appropriate fatigue risk management systems (FRMS).

This article is part of the Consumer Sleep Technology Special Collection.

Statement of Significance The global aviation industry relies on scientific guidance to inform decision-making about appropriate methods and technologies to use for sleep measurement. Consumer sleep technologies (CSTs) could revolutionize sleep data collection methods for fatigue risk management. In-flight sleep is a common fatigue mitigation strategy for flight crew, so the ability of CSTs to accurately measure sleep during flights is crucial. This narrative review presents the case for a need to evaluate CSTs specifically for the measurement of in-flight sleep data before they can be considered acceptable for use in aviation research.

Verbatim from the publisher's DOI record (opens in a new tab) · Publisher licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

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