Evaluating the Potentials of Biodynamic Lighting for Home Office Workers

NCT ID: NCT05481424

Last Updated: 2024-07-30

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: COMPLETED
• Clinical Phase: NA
• Total Enrollment: 20 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2022-10-01
• Study Completion Date: 2024-03-31

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.

Conditions

Cognitive Performance; Sleep; Alertness

Study Design

• Allocation Method: RANDOMIZED
• Intervention Model: CROSSOVER
• Primary Study Purpose: OTHER
• Blinding Strategy: DOUBLE

Study Groups

Biodynamic Condition followed by an Active Placebo Condition.

Each lighting condition will last for two weeks (Weeks 2-3 or 4-5), be limited to the 10 workdays, and be active for 8 hours per day. The order of conditions will be randomized.

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

Biodynamic

Intervention Type: OTHER

This will be a nine-hour lighting scheme that includes three modes: morning, noon, and afternoon. It mimics natural lighting by providing blue-enriched bright lighting in the morning and yellowish dimmed lighting in the afternoon. The lighting scheme is designed to satisfy the visual lighting needs of office workers while maintaining a robust circadian clock.

Active Placebo

Intervention Type: OTHER

We will include an active placebo condition that will be a whole-day lighting scheme with constant color and brightness during working hours. This condition is designed to serve to requirements: (1) to simulate a conventional, well-lit office lighting in compliance with the WELL standard V1 recommendations for circadian lighting design, and (2) to provide an Equivalent Melanopic Lux (EML) equal to the geometric average of EML delivered by the Biodynamic condition. Participants will receive a similar dose of lighting under both the Placebo and Biodynamic conditions; however, the "time" factor is ignored in the Placebo, and hence the method of delivery is different (constant versus dynamic).

Active Placebo Condition followed by Biodynamic Condition

Each lighting condition will last for two weeks (Weeks 2-3 or 4-5), be limited to the 10 workdays, and be active for 8 hours per day. The order of conditions will be randomized.

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

Biodynamic

Intervention Type: OTHER

This will be a nine-hour lighting scheme that includes three modes: morning, noon, and afternoon. It mimics natural lighting by providing blue-enriched bright lighting in the morning and yellowish dimmed lighting in the afternoon. The lighting scheme is designed to satisfy the visual lighting needs of office workers while maintaining a robust circadian clock.

Active Placebo

Intervention Type: OTHER

We will include an active placebo condition that will be a whole-day lighting scheme with constant color and brightness during working hours. This condition is designed to serve to requirements: (1) to simulate a conventional, well-lit office lighting in compliance with the WELL standard V1 recommendations for circadian lighting design, and (2) to provide an Equivalent Melanopic Lux (EML) equal to the geometric average of EML delivered by the Biodynamic condition. Participants will receive a similar dose of lighting under both the Placebo and Biodynamic conditions; however, the "time" factor is ignored in the Placebo, and hence the method of delivery is different (constant versus dynamic).

Interventions

Biodynamic

This will be a nine-hour lighting scheme that includes three modes: morning, noon, and afternoon. It mimics natural lighting by providing blue-enriched bright lighting in the morning and yellowish dimmed lighting in the afternoon. The lighting scheme is designed to satisfy the visual lighting needs of office workers while maintaining a robust circadian clock.

Intervention Type: OTHER

Active Placebo

We will include an active placebo condition that will be a whole-day lighting scheme with constant color and brightness during working hours. This condition is designed to serve to requirements: (1) to simulate a conventional, well-lit office lighting in compliance with the WELL standard V1 recommendations for circadian lighting design, and (2) to provide an Equivalent Melanopic Lux (EML) equal to the geometric average of EML delivered by the Biodynamic condition. Participants will receive a similar dose of lighting under both the Placebo and Biodynamic conditions; however, the "time" factor is ignored in the Placebo, and hence the method of delivery is different (constant versus dynamic).

Intervention Type: OTHER

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

-

• Minimum Eligible Age: 18 Years
• Maximum Eligible Age: 65 Years
• Eligible Sex: ALL
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Sponsors

Korrus Inc.

UNKNOWN

Sponsor Role: collaborator

Arizona State University

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Nina Sharp

Assistant Professor

Responsibility Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Principal Investigators

nina Sharp, PhD

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Arizona State University

Locations

ASU DeSmart Lab

Tempe, Arizona, United States

Countries

United States

Other Identifiers

STUDY00015724

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id