TY - JOUR PY - 2021// TI - A blue-enriched, increased intensity light intervention to improve alertness and performance in rotating night shift workers in an operational setting JO - Nature and science of sleep A1 - Sletten, Tracey L. A1 - Raman, Bhairavi A1 - Magee, Michelle A1 - Ferguson, Sally A. A1 - Kennaway, David J. A1 - Grunstein, Ronald R. A1 - Lockley, Steven W. A1 - Rajaratnam, Shantha M. W. SP - 647 EP - 657 VL - 13 IS - N2 - PURPOSE: This study examined the efficacy of a lighting intervention that increased both light intensity and short-wavelength (blue) light content to improve alertness, performance and mood in night shift workers in a chemical plant.

PATIENTS AND METHODS: During rostered night shifts, 28 workers (46.0±10.8 years; 27 male) were exposed to two light conditions each for two consecutive nights (~19:00-07:00 h) in a counterbalanced repeated measures design: traditional-spectrum lighting set at pre-study levels (43 lux, 4000 K) versus higher intensity, blue-enriched lighting (106 lux, 17,000 K), equating to a 4.5-fold increase in melanopic illuminance (24 to 108 melanopic illuminance). Participants completed the Karolinska Sleepiness Scale, subjective mood ratings, and the Psychomotor Vigilance Task (PVT) every 2-4 hours during the night shift.

RESULTS: A significant main effect of time indicated KSS, PVT mean reaction time, number of PVT lapses (reaction times > 500 ms) and subjective tension, misery and depression worsened over the course of the night shift (p<0.05). Percentage changes in KSS (p<0.05, partial η(2)=0.14) and PVT mean reaction time (p<0.05, partial η(2)=0.19) and lapses (p<0.05, partial η(2)=0.17) in the middle and end of night shift, expressed relative to start of shift, were significantly improved during the lighting intervention compared to the traditional lighting condition. Self-reported mood did not significantly differ between conditions (p>0.05).

CONCLUSION: Our findings, showing improvements in alertness and performance with exposure to blue-enriched, increased intensity light, provide support for light to be used as a countermeasure for impaired alertness in night shift work settings.

Language: en

LA - en SN - 1179-1608 UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.2147/NSS.S287097 ID - ref1 ER -