Validation of the relationship between rapid eye movement sleep and sleep-related erections in healthy adults by a feasible instrument Fitbit Charge2

Background: Sleep, particularly rapid eye movement sleep, has been found to be associated with sleep-related erections. While RigiScan is currently a more accurate method for monitoring nocturnal erectile events, the Fitbit, a smart wearable device, shows great potential for sleep monitoring. Objectives: To analyze the relationship between sleep-related erections and sleep by recruiting sexually active, healthy men for simultaneous monitoring of sleep and nocturnal penile tumescence and rigidity. Patients and methods: Using Fitbit Charge2 and RigiScan, we simultaneously monitored nocturnal sleep and erections in 43 healthy male volunteers, and analyzed the relationship between sleep periods and erectile events with the Statistical Package for Social Sciences. Results: Among all erectile events, 89.8% were related to rapid eye movement, and 79.2% of all rapid eye movement periods were associated with erectile events. Moreover, a statistical correlation was shown between the duration of rapid eye movement and the time of total erectile events (first night: rho = 0.316, p = 0.039; second night: rho = 0.370, p = 0.015). Discussion and conclusion: Our study shows a potential link between sleep-related erections and rapid eye movement sleep, which has implications for the current examination of sleep-related erections and further research into the mechanisms of erectile function. Meanwhile, the wearable device Fitbit has shown a potential promise for sleep monitoring in patients with erectile dysfunction. The results provide an alternative approach for further research on the relationship between erectile function and sleep with large sample sizes in the future.