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Use of Light Protection Equipment at Night Reduces Time Until Discharge From the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit: A
Ana Carolina Odebrecht Vergne de Abreu1, Melissa Alves Braga de Oliveira1,2, Tamila Alquati3
1Laboratório de Cronobiologia e Sono, Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre (HCPA), Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil.
Insights
Using eye masks in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) can help preterm infants develop better. This simple intervention may lead to earlier hospital discharge for newborns.
Area of Science:
- Neonatal care
- Chronobiology
- Developmental pediatrics
Background:
- Newborn infants possess immature circadian systems, heavily influenced by environmental light cues.
- Continuous or irregular lighting in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) disrupts natural light-dark cycles, potentially harming preterm infants.
- Artificial light at night poses risks to infant health and development.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the effect of nocturnal eye mask use on the development and growth of preterm neonates.
- To assess the impact of light protection on physiological parameters and hospitalization duration in preterm infants.
Main Methods:
- A randomized controlled trial was conducted with preterm infants (born <37 weeks gestation) in a newborn nursery.
- Infants were assigned to either an intervention group using eye masks at night (n=21) or a control group (n=20).
- Data collected included length of hospital stay, weight gain, and heart rate variability.
Main Results:
- Infants using eye masks at night were discharged significantly earlier (8 days) compared to the control group (12 days).
- The intervention group exhibited greater diurnal heart rate variation, with lower heart rates at 1400 and 2000 hours.
- No significant differences in weight gain were observed between the groups.
Conclusions:
- Nocturnal eye mask use, combined with a darkened environment, promotes better development in preterm infants.
- Eye masks are a cost-effective tool that can shorten NICU stays, reducing healthcare costs.
- Implementing light protection strategies is recommended for improving preterm infant care in NICUs.
Abstract:
Newborn infants' circadian systems are not completely developed and rely on external temporal cues for synchronizing their biological rhythms to the environment. In neonatal intensive care units (NICUs), lighting is usually continuous or irregular and infants are exposed to artificial light at night, which can have negative health consequences. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of the use of individual light protection equipment at night on the development and growth of preterm neonates. Infants born at less than 37 gestational weeks who no longer needed constant intensive care were admitted into a newborn nursery and randomized to either use eye masks at night (intervention, n = 21) or not (control, n = 20). Infants who used eye protection at night were discharged earlier than those in the control group (8 [5] vs 12 [3.75] days; p < 0.05). A greater variation within the day in heart rate was observed in the intervention group, with lower values of beats per minute at 1400 and 2000 h. There was no significant difference in weight gain between groups. In view of our results and of previous findings present in the literature, we suggest that combining a darkened environment at night with individual light protection devices creates better conditions for the development of preterm infants in the NICU. In addition, eye masks are an affordable and simple-to-use tool that can reduce hospitalization costs by decreasing the number of days spent in the NICU.
