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Updated: Jul 28, 2025
Observational Study Protocol for Repeated Clinical Examination and Critical Care Ultrasonography Within the Simple Intensive Care Studies
Published on: January 16, 2019
A prospective multicentre observational study to quantify nocturnal light exposure in intensive care
Thomas Craig1, Steve Mathieu2, Clare Morden3
1Anaesthetics Speciality Registrar, Addenbrookes Hospital, Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Cambridgeshire, UK.
Background:
Disrupted circadian rhythms can have a major effect on human physiology and healthcare outcomes, with proven increases in ICU morbidity, mortality and length of stay.
Methods:
We performed a multicentre observational study to study the nocturnal lux exposure of patients in 3 intensive care units.
Results:
The median light intensity recorded was 1 lux over the 6-hour recording period; however, this is deceptive as it hides short periods of high lux. When looked at in shorter time segments of 30 minutes, there were significant periods of lux higher than a crude median, especially in higher acuity patients. There was a positive correlation between acuity (as estimated by SOFA score) and maximum lux (R = 0.479, p = .0001), median lux (R = 0.35, p = .006) and cumulative lux (R = 0.55, p = .000001). There was no relationship between neighbouring patient acuity and lux.
Conclusions:
Clinicians should practice vigilance at night to provide optimal environmental conditions for patients to minimise potential harm.
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