Participant Compliance When Wearing a Sleep-tracking Ring for Extended Time Periods: Preliminary Results

The widespread use of wearable technologies in research settings has made it easier to assess health-related indices. However, information is limited regarding participant compliance when using these wearable technologies in military settings. This study assessed participant compliance when wearing Ōura rings for periods of up to 210 days (182 participants, four military commands). In our results, compliance followed a power decay function with substantive differences across commands and across both demographic and occupational factors. Overall compliance was approximately 40% after 80 days of wearing the device, ~30% after 125 days, and ~20% after 210 days. Higher ranking individuals had better compliance compared to subordinate military members. This difference increased consistently for the first 2 months of wearing the device, reaching 20% to 50% depending on the command. Personnel seniority and in-person interaction with researchers are important factors that should be taken into consideration when conducting longitudinal studies in military environments.