1125 Use of a Pillow Designed to Help Users Feel Cool Improves Objective Sleep Quality and Perceived Sleep

Abstract Introduction Comfort and temperature regulation play important roles in sleep quality. This study compared sleep on a pillow designed to help the sleeper feel cool to participants’ prior sleep on their original pillow. Methods Healthy adults (71% female; ages 24-72, mean age=42) who reported difficulties with sleeping hot or night sweats and frequent awakenings or time spent awake at night, participated in a 9-week field study, using a pre-post intervention design. During the 4-week baseline period, participants used their regular pillow at home. During the 5-week intervention period, following a 1-week adjustment period, participants used Sleepy’s SUB-0 Triple Cooling Pillow. The pillow is made with materials designed to help regulate temperature and draw heat away from the body. Sleep was measured objectively using a PSG-validated, non-contact biomotion device, SleepScore Max, every night and by daily and pre-post self-report. Multilevel regression and paired t-tests were used to test for statistical significance. Results There were 1,175 nights of tracked sleep across 29 participants. Compared to baseline, objective sleep measurements showed increased REM, indicated by 3 metrics: REM in minutes (9% increase, p=.001), REM as a proportion of the night (13% relative increase, p.001), and MindScore (4% increase, p=001). There also was improvement in SleepScore, a measure of overall sleep quality (3% increase, p=.005). Self-report measures revealed that the pillow felt cooler and more comfortable compared to the original pillow, and participants perceived that they had less intense night sweats, a reduction in the experience of sleeping hot, and increases in sleep quality, feeling more rested in the morning, and satisfaction with sleep (all ps .001). Conclusion Objectively measured sleep quality and perceived sleep improved when using the cooling pillow compared to the original pillow. Self-report results indicated that the intervention was perceived as comfortable and cool. These perceptions likely are what led to the key sleep improvements. Support (if any) Mattress Firm INC.