Ill-lighting syndrome: prevalence in shift-work personnel in the anaesthesiology and intensive care department of three Italian hospitals

BACKGROUND: Light is one of the most important factors in our interaction with the environment; it is indispensable to visual function and neuroendocrine regulation, and is essential to our emotional perception and evaluation of the environment. Previous studies have focussed on the effects of prolonged anomalous exposure to artificial light and, in the field of work-related illness. Studies have been carried out on shift-work personnel, who are obliged to experience alterations in the physiological alternation of day and night, with anomalous exposure to light stimuli in hours normally reserved for sleep. In order to identify any signs and symptoms of the so-called ill-lighting syndrome, we carried out a study on a sample of anaesthesiologists and nurses employed in the operating theatres and Intensive Care Departments of three Italian hospitals. We measured the subjective emotional discomfort (stress) experienced by these subjects, and its correlation with environmental discomfort factors, in particular the level of lighting, in their workplace. METHODS: We used a questionnaire developed by the Scandinavian teams who investigated Sick-Building Syndrome, that was self-administered on one day in the environments where the degree of illumination was measured according to UNIEN12464-1 regulations. RESULTS: Upon comparison of the types of exposure with the horizontal luminance values (lux) measured (< 700 lux, between 1000–1500 lux, > 1500 lux) and the degree of stress reported, (Intensive Care: mean stress = 55.8%, high stress = 34.6%; Operating Theatres: mean stress = 51.5%, high stress = 33.8%), it can be observed that the percentage of high stress was reduced as the exposure to luminance was increased, although this finding was not statistically significant. CONCLUSION: We cannot share other authors' enthusiasm regarding the effects on workers well-being correlated to the use of fluorescent lighting. The stress level of our workers was found to be more heavily influenced by their familial and working conditions, irrespective of the ambient light stimulus.