Evening light exposure: implications for sleep and depression.
OBJECTIVE
To examine whether dim illumination in the evening is a factor in sleep disturbances of aging, depression, and circadian phase advance.


METHODS
One-week continuous recordings were made to record illumination exposure and to infer 24-hour sleep patterns from wrist activity.


METHODS
Recordings took place during normal home and community activities.


METHODS
Complete data of 154 postmenopausal women, mean age 66.7, were selected from a larger study of participants in the Women's Health Initiative.


METHODS
Illumination in lux was averaged for 4 hours before bedtime and over 24 hours. Mood was measured using a brief eight-item screen.


RESULTS
Illumination in the 4 hours before bedtime was quite dim: median 24 lux. Nevertheless, evening light exposure was not significantly related to sleep amount (in bed or out of bed) sleep efficiency, sleep latency, wake within sleep, or mood. In contrast, the overall amount of light throughout the 24 hours was negatively correlated with sleep latency, wake within sleep, and depressed mood.


CONCLUSIONS
Low evening lighting does not appear to be a crucial factor in sleep and mood disturbances of aging, but overall lighting may contribute to these disturbances.
Wallace-Guy
Geralyn M
GM
Department of Psychiatry and the Sam and Rose Stein Institute for Research on Aging, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093, USA.
Kripke
Daniel F
DF
Jean-Louis
Girardin
G
Langer
Robert D
RD
Elliott
Jeffrey A
JA
Tuunainen
Arja
A
D000368:Aged; D002940:Circadian Rhythm; D003863:Depression / Q000209:etiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D017440:Photoperiod; D017698:Postmenopause; D012893:Sleep Wake Disorders / Q000209:etiology*