Clinical trial NCT05481424: Evaluating the Potentials of Biodynamic Lighting for Home Office Workers
Official title: Light, Health, and Productivity: Evaluating the Potentials of Biodynamic Lighting for Home Office Workers
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Phase: NA
Conditions: Cognitive Performance
Sleep
Alertness
Keywords: Biodynamic Lighting
Sleep
Remote workers
Cognitive performance
light spectrum
Lead sponsor: Arizona State University
Sponsor class: OTHER
Collaborators: name: Korrus Inc.
First posted: 2022-08-01
Enrollment: 20
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 18
Maximum age (years): 65
Standard ages: ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: yes
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: CROSSOVER
Intervention model description: Investigators will examine a series of participants (N=25), each of whom will participate in a five-week experiment. Each participant will have a screening visit at their home. The study will be conducted over five successive one-week periods with two cohorts of participants experiencing the same series of lighting interventions. All data collection will be performed during the working days (Monday - Friday) when participants are exposed to the lighting in their home offices.
Primary purpose: OTHER

Brief summary: This study examines the effectiveness of a biodynamic lighting intervention on the sleep, cognitive functions, and alertness of adults working from home. The biodynamic intervention is an innovative lighting solution that intends to harness both visual and non-visual effects of lighting through delivering varying intensities and spectra during working hours according to a preset protocol.

Detailed description: The practice of working from home was widespread well before the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic; The Covid-19 pandemic pressed the fast-forward button on this trend. One of the biggest business concerns associated with working from home is how to maintain employees' productivity. Lighting has been proven as the main environmental element that significantly impacts office workers' health, sleep, mood, comfort, cognitive functions, and, consequently, productivity. One unintended aspect of working from home is the reduction in light exposure, especially in the contrast between the daytime and evening.

The effect of lighting on the office workers, including those working from home, could be roughly divided into two categories: visual route and non-visual route. Both visual and non-visual routes have received significant attention from researchers over the past decade. Yet, current literature lacks research involving a comprehensive approach that systematically evaluates the potential of biodynamic lighting interventions in home workplaces. None of the previous studies have evaluated lighting conditions in the home workplaces nor investigated the effects of lighting interventions on the health and productivity of adults working from home. With the rapid increase in the number of people moving to work from home, special attention should be paid to the lighting condition in home offices and its impacts on these workers.

This study examines the effectiveness of a biodynamic lighting intervention on the sleep, cognitive functions, and alertness of adults working from home. The biodynamic intervention is an innovative lighting solution that intends to harness both visual and non-visual effects of lighting through delivering varying intensities and spectra during working hours according to a preset protocol. Additionally, this study aims to compare the homeworkers' lighting conditions, impacts, and daily light exposure and how it is relevant to their sleep pattern and health. The specific aims of this study include:

* Aim 1: Examine the potential benefits of applying a biodynamic lighting condition in home offices for promoting sleep, cognitive functions, and alertness in remote workers.
* Aim 2: Objectively explore remote workers' daily light exposure pattern and model its relationship with their sleep quality.

Findings from this interdisciplinary study will provide insight into the potential benefits of applying biodynamic lighting in home workplaces for improving health and well-being in remote workers. Findings will also assist the lighting industry in providing necessary lighting technology and products aligned with the uprising trend of working from home.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* Have an occupation of a dayshift (i.e., occurring between 6 AM and 8 PM) remote office worker, working from home for five days (Monday→Friday) a week with a maximum of 12 hours per day
* Good health \[self-reported medical history\]
* No evidence of sleep disorders \[Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) scores \>5 are excluded\]
* No extreme chronotypes (extreme owl or lark) \[Morningness-Evningness Questionnaire (MEQ) scores \>70 or \<30 are excluded; typical bedtime between 8 PM and 2 AM\]
* Normal color vision \[as per Ishihara's Tests for Colour Deficiency\]
* No current or planned use of light therapy or light-altering devices (e.g., blue-blocking and/or tinted glasses and contact lenses)
* No planned upcoming travel during the study participation period
* Not pregnant

Exclusion Criteria:

-

Primary outcomes:
measure: Change in Nocturnal Sleep Duration (in minutes) as measured by actigraphy
timeFrame: 24 hours everyday up to week 5
measure: Change in Percent Sleep Efficiency (total sleep time divided by time in bed) measured by actigraphy
timeFrame: 24 hours everyday up to week 5
measure: Change in the Subjective Sleep quality as measured by a single Likert-like question qualitatively
timeFrame: everyday up to 5 weeks
measure: Change in working memory as assessed by fractal 2-back score
timeFrame: Once per day, Monday to Friday, during week 1, 3, and 5
measure: Change in working Memory as assessed by Visual Object Learning Task (VOLT) score
timeFrame: Once per day, Monday to Friday, during week 1, 3, and 5
measure: Change in median reaction time on Psychomotor Vigilance test
timeFrame: Once per day, Monday to Friday, during week 1, 3, and 5
measure: Change in Balloon Analogue Risk Task (BART) score
timeFrame: Once per day, Monday to Friday, during week 1, 3, and 5
measure: Change in subjective alertness as assessed by Stanford Sleepiness Scale (SSS)
timeFrame: Once per day, Monday to Friday, during week 1, 3, and 5
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Change in motor speed as assessed by Motor Praxis Task
timeFrame: Once per day, Monday to Friday, during week 1, 3, and 5
measure: Change in measure of abstraction: score on abstract matching test
timeFrame: Once per day, Monday to Friday, during week 1, 3, and 5
measure: Change in the spatial orientation: score on line orientation test
timeFrame: Once per day, Monday to Friday, during week 1, 3, and 5
measure: Change in complex scanning and visual tracking: score on Digit Symbol Substitution Task (DSST)
timeFrame: Once per day, Monday to Friday, during week 1, 3, and 5
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Tempe
country: United States
facility: ASU DeSmart Lab
state: Arizona
Study officials:
affiliation: Arizona State University
name: nina Sharp, PhD
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References: