LEMURS

At the start of Fall 2022, the Lived Experiences Measured Using Rings Study (LEMURS) recruited a cohort of more than 600 first-year students at the University of Vermont to take part in a longitudinal experiment incentivizing healthy behaviors. During the Fall of 2022, we assessed changes in students’ sleep, stress, mental health, and other outcomes through a series of weekly surveys. We also monitored heart-rate (HR), sleep, and activity continuously in this cohort using Oura rings. In Spring 2023, we randomized students into four groups of 150: (a) Exercise, (b) Nature Experiences, (c) Group Therapy, and (d) Self-Monitoring. Students were engaged in these wellness interventions and completed weekly surveys via a bespoke mobile application platform developed in Fall 2022.

Using over 10 million heart-rate and activity measurements over a 6-month period, we’ve begun to identify intriguing patterns in the survey and Oura ring data that advance our understanding of relationships between well-being, health, cardiac activity, and sleep. College students are at high-risk for mental-health related challenges—determining which objective markers from a popular consumer wearable are associated with stress and anxiety provides opportunities to identify specifically who is at risk, and intervene at scale in real time.

Please contact lemurs.study@uvm.edu if you have questions.

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