Effect on truck drivers' alertness of a 30-min. exposure to bright light: a field study

Reduced alertness is common during night driving. Light treatment may constitute one countermeasure to reduce sleepiness. To test this idea six professional drivers participated in this study in which they self-administered a 30-min. light treatment during a break in the middle of a night drive of about 9 hours. Two experimental conditions were used, including light exposures with a light box and a light visor. There was a control condition. Alertness was measured on a 100-mm visual analogue scale. No significant effect of light was found, but ratings of sleepiness increased significantly through the night drive. The experimental light treatment was not correlated with any increased wakefulness compared to the drivings where no extra light exposures were carried out.