Study of the effects of various lighting conditions on anxiety and depression in patients in a coronary care unit

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of three different lighting environments on the patients in a Coronary Care Unit (CCU). The sample consisted of 45 subjects with the diagnosis of myocardial infarction (MI), angina, or rule out MI. Three different groups (n=lS each group) were utilized to evaluate rooms with naturally lighted windows (NLW), artificially lighted windows with day/night sequencing (ALW), and artificial windows with n.o artificial back-lighting (AW). Room assignment was made by admissions clerks, who were not aware of the study, in the normal way. Patients who met the study criteria and gave informed consent were asked to complete the Hospital Anxiety Depression Scale (Zigmond & Snaith, 1983) after a stay of approximately 48 hrs. Results of the study did not demonstrate significant difference in anxiety and depression between the three groups. Anecdotally, three subjects in the AW group developed confusion and had to be dropped from the study. This supports earlier research by Wilson (1972) finding increased rates of confusion among patients assigned to windowless rooms.