Reduced lighting does not improve medical outcomes in very low birth weight infants.
OBJECTIVE
To objectively assess the effect of light reduction as an isolated environmental intervention on neonatal morbidity.


METHODS
Randomized multicenter trial. Neonates < 1251 g birth weight and < 31 weeks gestational age were randomly assigned to receive goggles or to a control group. Goggles that reduced visible light by 97% were placed within 24 hours of birth and remained in use until 31 weeks postmenstrual age or for a minimum of 4 weeks.


RESULTS
Four hundred nine infants were enrolled, and outcome data are reported for 359 surviving infants. There were no significant differences between the groups in weight gain, duration of oxygen therapy, mechanical ventilation, or hospital stay either in the unadjusted analyses or in the analyses adjusted for birth weight, gestational age, race, sex, and inborn (born in study hospital) status. There was no difference between the groups in the incidence of intracranial hemorrhage.


CONCLUSIONS
This randomized trial of continuous light reduction in the first few weeks of life for very low birth weight infants showed no effect on medical outcomes.
Kennedy
K A
KA
Department of Pediatrics, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, USA.
Fielder
A R
AR
Hardy
R J
RJ
Tung
B
B
Gordon
D C
DC
Reynolds
J D
JD
D002657:Child Development / Q000502:physiology; D005135:Eye Protective Devices; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007234:Infant, Premature / Q000502:physiology*; D019102:Infant, Very Low Birth Weight / Q000502:physiology*; D020300:Intracranial Hemorrhages / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D007902:Length of Stay; D008029:Lighting; D008297:Male; D010043:Outcome and Process Assessment, Health Care; D010102:Oxygen Inhalation Therapy; D012121:Respiration, Artificial; D015430:Weight Gain / Q000502:physiology