Khorshid Raghad F, Almadani Sakhaa H, Al Shehri Amjad M, Abduljawad Lama M, Alsaleh Ahmad M
College of Medicine, King Saud Bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Jeddah, SAU.
Psychiatry, King Abdulaziz Medical City, Jeddah, SAU.
Cureus. 2021 Feb 19;13(2):e13436. doi: 10.7759/cureus.13436.
Aim Anxiety is an emotion recognized by a feeling of tension and agitation along with physiological excitement. Several factors could influence the moods, emotions, and behaviors of patients with anxiety disorders. One of these factors includes exposure to different lightings. In lots of working environments, fluorescent lights are the most dominant light source. Due to the dominance and exposure of fluorescent light, it has been proven that it could have different effects on the human body. Up to our knowledge, no previous or recent studies addressed the relationship between fluorescent light and anxiety disorders, even though based on observations, many patients with anxiety disorders have complained when exposed to fluorescent light. This research determined whether fluorescent light caused discomfort and amplified anxiety symptoms in anxiety patients in comparison to healthy individuals. In other words, the purpose is to determine the effect of fluorescent light on anxiety patients. Methods The study design was comparative cross-sectional. Two questionnaires were used, one was a validated screening tool called the Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI), which was used to screen participants for mental disorders. The second was a self-administered, piloted, and validated questionnaire that included questions regarding the effects of fluorescent light on participants. This study was carried out in the outpatient clinics of King Abdulaziz Medical City in Jeddah between July 2019 and November 2019. A non-probability consecutive sampling technique was used. Results The sample size was 206 participants. Seventy-five percent of participants with anxiety disorders agreed that they do not feel comfortable with the lighting of this clinic more than healthy participants that were only 25.0% (P = 0.007). When exposed to a room with fluorescent lighting, most of the participants with anxiety disorders would try to adapt to the lights (66.7%) or leave the room (73.7%) than healthy participants (P = 0.007). Furthermore, fluorescent light reminded participants of anxiety disorders of "old house and old places," "headaches, negativity, and discomfort," and "hospitals and schools." Conclusion Participants with anxiety disorders are affected by fluorescent light. They feel uncomfortable and would prefer to either leave the place with fluorescent light or try to adapt. Fluorescent light reminds anxiety participants of negative aspects more than healthy participants.
目的 焦虑是一种通过紧张感、烦躁感以及生理兴奋感来识别的情绪。有几个因素可能会影响焦虑症患者的情绪、情感和行为。其中一个因素包括暴露于不同的光照环境。在许多工作环境中，荧光灯是最主要的光源。由于荧光灯的主导地位和广泛使用，已证明它可能对人体有不同影响。据我们所知，之前或最近都没有研究探讨荧光灯与焦虑症之间的关系，尽管基于观察，许多焦虑症患者在暴露于荧光灯下时会抱怨。本研究旨在确定与健康个体相比，荧光灯是否会给焦虑症患者带来不适并加重其焦虑症状。换句话说，目的是确定荧光灯对焦虑症患者的影响。
方法 本研究设计为比较性横断面研究。使用了两份问卷，一份是经过验证的筛查工具，名为《迷你国际神经精神访谈》（MINI），用于筛查参与者是否患有精神障碍。另一份是自行填写、经过预试验和验证的问卷，其中包括关于荧光灯对参与者影响的问题。本研究于2019年7月至2019年11月在吉达阿卜杜勒阿齐兹国王医疗城的门诊进行。采用非概率连续抽样技术。
结果 样本量为206名参与者。75%的焦虑症患者表示，他们对该诊所的照明环境比对仅占25.0%的健康参与者更感到不舒服（P = 0.007）。当暴露在有荧光灯照明的房间时，大多数焦虑症患者会试图适应灯光（66.7%）或离开房间（73.7%），而健康参与者的这一比例分别为（P = 0.007）。此外，荧光灯会让焦虑症患者联想到“老房子和旧地方”“头痛、消极情绪和不适”以及“医院和学校”等焦虑症相关情境。
结论 焦虑症患者会受到荧光灯的影响。他们会感到不舒服，要么选择离开有荧光灯的地方，要么试图去适应。与健康参与者相比，荧光灯更能让焦虑症患者联想到消极方面。
