A study from Flinders University has revealed that circadian-informed lighting can significantly improve the performance and well-being of night shift workers. The research, published in the Oxford University Press SLEEP journal, demonstrates that strategic light exposure can accelerate body-clock adjustment, enhance alertness, and improve sleep quality.
Dr Hannah Scott, a sleep researcher at Flinders University, explains, “Circadian rhythms reflect our body’s internal clocks that control the activity and timing of bodily functions, including our sleep-wake cycle. Shift work causes circadian disruption, for which well-timed light exposure, designed to promote alertness and facilitate circadian adjustment, is one of the most potent methods to help retime the body clock.”
The study, conducted in a controlled laboratory environment, involved 19 adults who were exposed to two different lighting scenarios over eight days. The circadian-informed lighting consisted of blue-enriched and dim, blue-depleted conditions, while the traditional lighting simulated standard submarine lighting conditions.
Results showed that participants exposed to circadian-informed lighting experienced a body-clock shift of about one hour faster per day compared to those under standard lighting. They also achieved almost one hour more sleep and reported lower levels of sleepiness during shifts.
Alisha Guyett, lead author of one of the published papers, states, “The overarching benefits of circadian-informed lighting on sleep and alertness are very clear from this study. Our findings suggest that strategic lighting interventions can likely be used to enhance the performance, sleep, safety and well-being of night shift workers exposed to inadequate light during their work shift.”
The research has significant implications for various industries, particularly those with enclosed work environments like submarines. Professor Peter Catcheside, a senior researcher at Flinders Health and Medical Research Institute: Sleep Health, adds, “These findings have important implications for submariner lighting conditions, but also mining and other workplace environments where lighting conditions may make it more difficult for shift workers to successfully adjust their body-clocks to the work schedule.”
Ritchelle is a Content Producer for Healthcare Channel, Australia’s premier resource of information for healthcare.
