Grant and colleagues investigated falls in care homes by elderly (mean age 81 +/- 12 years old) residents. They report that some test locations “had solid-state lighting installed throughout the facility that changed in intensity and spectrum to increase short-wavelength (blue light) exposure during the day (6 am–6 pm) and decrease it overnight (6 pm–6 am). The control sites retained standard lighting with no change in intensity or spectrum throughout the day. The number of falls aggregated from medical records were assessed over an approximately 24-month interval. . . . Before the lighting upgrade, the rate of falls was similar between experimental and control sites. . . . Following the upgrade, falls were reduced by 43% at experimental sites compared with control sites. . . . Upgrading ambient lighting to incorporate higher intensity blue-enriched white light during the daytime and lower intensity overnight represents an effective, passive, low-cost, low-burden addition to current preventive strategies to reduce fall risk in long-term care settings.”
Leila Grant, Melissa St. Hilaire, Jenna Heller, Rodney Heller, Steven Lockley, and Shadab Rahnman. “Impact of Upgraded Lighting on Falls in Care Home Residents.” The Journal of Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine, in press, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jamda.2022.06.013