The Effects of Natural Daylight on Length of Hospital Stay

Abstract

Background and Purpose:While providing medical services, hospitals generate many data about patients. Such medical data could contribute to better treatments once their associations or patterns have been identified. With properly analyzed medical data, traditional knowledge at an individual level could be further extended to broader populations. This comprehensive study was performed to demonstrate the effectiveness of light using medical data accumulated over 15 years.Methods:Patients who were admitted to the window or door side of a six-bedded room were included. Patients admitted to the emergency room and elderly people aged >80 years were excluded. Patients’ length of stay was compared per what bed they were in (excluding middle beds). A multiple regression analysis was performed with patients admitted to the window or door side to determine whether the window affected their hospital stay. In addition, a multiple regression analysis was performed after adjusting for confounders by 1:1 matching between the two groups (ie, age, sex, and admitting department).Results:Participants were 38 788 patients with a bed near the window and 46 233 patients with a bed near the door. Results revealed that patients’ length of stay was shorter for those near the window compared with those near the door, which was also true after group matching (33 921 participants in each group).Conclusions:Clinical trials that test evidence-based designs of physical environments in wards or hospital rooms are usually difficult to perform. As an alternative strategy, using accumulated electronic medical data, we assessed this key element of hospital design.

Let there be blue-depleted light: in-patient dark therapy, circadian rhythms and length of stay

“…Although the negative impact of some types of light exposure has been well-publicised, a smaller body of research explores the potential health benefits of optimising light exposure in community and clinical settings. For example, a review by Park et al (2018) suggested that full-spectrum light exposure in hospital in-patients can be associated with increased levels of patient satisfaction, decreased levels of distress and improved physical capacity (by decreasing heart rate and systolic blood pressure, and increasing oxygen uptake). Such findings support evidence from earlier observational or cohort studies of medical patients, with several assessments of the impact of exposure to natural light on the clinical outcomes of patients admitted to intensive care units (ICU).…”

“…In human beings, light is essential for vision but also for non-image-forming processes associated with psychological and physiological well-being. Also, it appears that light influences recovery from a range of psychiatric and physical disorders (Castro 2011;Park 2018). This association was proposed many centuries ago, with documents written about asylums in Baghdad (circa 700 AD) suggesting that exposure to natural light and regular meals (ideally accompanied by a calming atmosphere and running water) were important elements of the therapeutic milieu (e.g.…”

“…the synthesis of vitamin D 3 ) (Joseph 2006). Also, we know that most people prefer daylight to electric lighting and that exposure to natural light improves visual acuity, enhances satisfaction with the perceived quality of living and working environments, and boosts subjective perceptions of health (Park 2018). Growing empirical evidence of significant associations between light exposure, mood and well-being has raised awareness of the notion that, as natural light is a key component of any 'healing environment', it may be possible to manipulate light exposure during clinical treatment for patient benefit (e.g.…”

“…Growing empirical evidence of significant associations between light exposure, mood and well-being has raised awareness of the notion that, as natural light is a key component of any 'healing environment', it may be possible to manipulate light exposure during clinical treatment for patient benefit (e.g. Beauchemin 1996;Park 2018;Scott 2019). In psychiatry, interest in these issues was fostered by growing awareness of seasonal subtypes of affective disorders and evidence that interventions that act on the circadian rhythm and sleep-wake cycle (collectively labelled 'chronotherapies') can ARTICLE Jan Scott, MBBS, PhD, is a Professor of Psychiatry in the Institute of Neuroscience, University of Newcastle, UK, and the International Visiting Professor in Mental Health at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Trondheim, Norway.…”

Effect on nurse and patient experience: overnight use of blue-depleted illumination

“…Of course, short-wavelength lighting is only part of the problem. Research in the area of patient sleep identifies different environmental factors that vary widely in their potential physiological impact and cost of implementation: from room temperature to the amount of natural daylight exposure 20–22. Physiologically neutral lighting systems exist and have been validated in the hospital—most notably the Philips HealWell suite (HealWell).…”