The Influence of Dynamic Lighting on Sleeping Behavior, Sleep Quality and Lighting Experience of Patients at a Coronary Care Unit:report of HTI Research Project

Inappropriate lighting exposure to hospitalized patients could lead to sleeping difficulties. In most hospitals, static lighting is still used as a standard, even though dynamic lighting could have a positive impact on hospitalized patients compared to static lighting. Dynamic lighting gives the ability to optimize the lighting settings for different times of day where the patients and hospital staff have different needs. However, found results are still mixed in this field. This pilot study among 37 patients at the Coronary Care Unit in VieCuri Medical Center in Venlo investigated the effect of dynamic lighting in comparison to static lighting on the lighting experience, sleeping behavior and sleep quality. Measures included questionnaires assessing participants sleeping behavior, sleep quality and lighting experience, as well as wrist actigraphy and light sensors. The results showed that the total sleep time in rooms with a static lighting scenario was significantly longer than in rooms with a dynamic lighting scenario (B=-17.8, p=.047). No other main effects were found. A significant interaction effect between lighting scenario and time of the day on the perceived color of white lighting was found (B=-1.33, p=.007; B=-1.65, p=.004). Moreover, many participants were satisfied with the lighting system and did not want to change it. Other participants desired the lighting to be less bright, more diffuse and/or warmer of color. To discover which lighting settings are most suitable for the lighting experience, sleeping behavior and sleep quality of hospital patients, more research must be done