Driving home from the night shift: a bright light intervention study

Abstract Sleep deprivation (SD) impairs vigilance and increases the risk of driving accidents during the commute home after night work. Bright light (BL) can enhance alertness and cognitive performance. We examined the effects of BL (5600 lux) versus dim light (DL, 35 lux) at the end of a night awak...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Sleep medicine 2017-02, Vol.30, p.171-179
Main Authors: Weisgerber, Denise M, Nikol, Maria, Mistlberger, Ralph E., Dr
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Accidents, Traffic - prevention & control
Adult
Automobile Driving
Bright light
Driving simulator
Fatigue - etiology
Fatigue - therapy
Female
Humans
Male
Neurology
Phototherapy - methods
Shift Work Schedule - adverse effects
Shiftwork
Sleep deprivation
Sleep Deprivation - therapy
Sleep Medicine
Young Adult
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Summary:Abstract Sleep deprivation (SD) impairs vigilance and increases the risk of driving accidents during the commute home after night work. Bright light (BL) can enhance alertness and cognitive performance. We examined the effects of BL (5600 lux) versus dim light (DL, 35 lux) at the end of a night awake on driving performance. Methods Subjects (N=19, 22.8 + 4 ya) completed three conditions, counterbalanced for order at >1 week intervals. The two overnight SD conditions began in the lab at usual bedtime. After 6h in DL, subjects were exposed to 45 min BL or continued DL, and then completed a 44 min driving test (two lap circuit) in a high fidelity simulator. In the rested condition, subjects slept at home until habitual wakeup time, were transported to the lab and. ∼45 min after wakeup, received BL and then the driving test. Results Oral temperature decreased while reaction time and sleepiness increased across both SD nights. BL suppressed salivary melatonin but had little or no effect on sleepiness or reaction time. SD markedly increased incidents and accidents. Five subjects (26%) sustained a terminal accident (eg, car flip) in the SD-DL condition, but none did so in the SD-BL or rested-BL conditions. Compared to SD-DL, SD-BL was associated with fewer incidents and accidents overall, and with better performance on the second lap of the circuit on several performance measures. Conclusion BL at the end of a night shift may have potential as a countermeasure to improve driving following night work.
ISSN:1389-9457
1878-5506
DOI:10.1016/j.sleep.2016.09.010