Natural light exposure, sleep and depression among day workers and shiftworkers at arctic and equatorial latitudes.

• Published in: PLOS ONE
• Main Authors: Suleima Pedroza Vasconcelos, Elaine Cristina Marqueze, Claudia Roberta de Castro Moreno, Debra J. Skene, Johanna Garefelt, Arne Lowden
• Other Authors: Gamble, Karen L.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2015
• Subjects: General Biochemistry; Genetics and Molecular Biology; General Agricultural and Biological Sciences; General Medicine; Research Article; envir; droit; Arctic
• Online Access: http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC4398445?pdf=render; https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0122078; https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0122078&type=printable; https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0122078; https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4398445; http://epubs.surrey.ac.uk/808675/; http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC4398445; http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25874859; http://core.ac.uk/display/30342282; http://www.diva-portal.org/smash/record.jsf?pid=diva2:810047; https://www.bv.fapesp.br/pt/publicacao/106905/natural-light-exposure-sleep-and-depression-among-day-worker/; https://paperity.org/p/61649074/natural-light-exposure-sleep-and-depression-among-day-workers-and-shiftworkers-at-arctic; https://academic.microsoft.com/#/detail/2014342160; https://surrey.eprints-hosting.org/808675/

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to investigate the relationship between individual natural light exposure, sleep need, and depression at two latitudes, one extreme with a few hours of light per day during winter, and the other with equal hours of light and darkness throughout the year. METHODS: This cross-sectional study included a sample of Brazilian workers (Equatorial, n = 488 workers) and a Swedish sample (Arctic, n = 1,273). RESULTS: The reported mean total natural light exposure per 4-week cycle differed significantly between the Equatorial and Arctic regions. However, shiftworkers from both sites reported similar hours of natural light exposure. Short light exposure was a predictor for insufficient sleep. CONCLUSION: Reduced exposure to natural light appears to increase the perception of obtaining insufficient sleep. Arctic workers were more prone to develop depression than Equatorial workers.