Falls in two long-term care facilities dropped by 43% after installing a dynamic LED lighting program tuned to natural sleep and wake rhythms, according to a study by researchers from Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Midwest Lighting Institute.
Investigators assessed the impact of solid-state (LED) lighting on visual acuity, alertness, and sleep and its potential influence on falls across two pairs of facilities.
Two experimental facilities received a solid-state lighting installation that changed intensity and spectrum by increasing short-wavelength (blue light) exposure during the day and decreasing it overnight. Two control facilities kept their standard static lighting, with no change in intensity or spectrum during the day.
Researchers tracked falls using medical records over approximately 24 months. Following the lighting upgrade, falls decreased by 43% at the experimental sites compared to the control sites.
Before the lighting upgrades, the falls rates were similar between the experimental and control facilities.
LED Lighting: Inexpensive Falls Intervention
Fall prevention programs tend to have modest results and are resource and time-intensive, notes Shadab Rahman, Ph.D. MPH, Investigator in the Division of Sleep and Circadian Disorders at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School.
But he says upgrading to solid-state lighting — which also offers superior energy efficiency — is a safe, effective, low-cost, low-burden preventative strategy to reduce fall risk in long-term care settings. And one that has tremendous potential to save lives and improve patients’ health and well-being.
The findings were published in JAMDA.
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