Data fusion of mobile and environmental sensing devices to understand the effect of the indoor environment on measured and self-reported sleep quality

The Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) of the bedroom environment has recently garnered attention since air pollution can affect sleep. Previous studies investigated IAQ and sleep quality in controlled environments which impacts both self-reported and measured sleep quality. Studies within a participant’s home environment are ecologically valid and reduce participant bias. Here, we study 20 participants over 77 days in Austin, TX. We monitored five components of IAQ using the BEVO Beacon, a calibrated purpose-built environmental monitor, and measured participant sleep quality through wearable activity trackers and 4-question surveys sent four times a week. We found significant decreases in sleep quality during nights with elevated CO, CO2, and temperature. Elevated CO was associated with a mean increase in 0.9 self-reported awakenings and decreases in device-measured sleep time of 21.6 min and sleep efficiency of 0.6%. Increased CO2 and temperature were associated with decreases in device-measured sleep time of 17.5 and 15.2 min, respectively. Elevated PM2.5 and TVOCs concentrations were associated with overall improvements in sleep quality. Participants reported a mean of 4.4 fewer awakenings and had a 1.1% increased in measured sleep efficiency for nights with elevated PM2.5. Elevated TVOCs were associated with an increase in sleep time of 14.5 min. These findings indicate a need to study the relationship between these aggregate IAQ measures and sleep quality more closely. Our results also indicate that pollutants can independently affect sleep quality regardless of the CO2 measurements. Compared to literature, our study is the longest and includes the most IAQ parameters.