Chabal Sarah, Moslener Emily, Markwald Rachel R, Chinoy Evan D
Operational Readiness and Health Directorate, Naval Health Research Center, San Diego, CA, USA.
Naval Submarine Medical Research Laboratory, Groton, CT, USA.
Sleep Adv. 2024 Dec 19;6(1):zpae097. doi: 10.1093/sleepadvances/zpae097. eCollection 2025.
Carefully timed light exposure is a promising countermeasure to overcome the negative sleep and circadian implications of shift work. However, many lighting interventions are static and applied at the group level (e.g. light banks, changes to ambient lighting), which is not appropriate for all populations or settings. This study investigates whether individualized lighting exposure, via personal light treatment devices (PLTDs), can improve sleep, sustain projected performance, and entrain circadian rhythms with the work schedules of US Navy submariners. Submarines are a unique testbed for PLTD intervention because they provide a self-contained environment with little influence from outside schedules or lighting. Forty-two submariners were pseudo-randomly assigned to either the PLTD or Control group. PLTD group participants wore blue-light exposure glasses for ~40 minutes upon waking and blue-blocking glasses for ~2 hours before sleep; Control group participants did not use PLTDs. Both groups completed questionnaires assessing subjective sleep and mood before and after the 12-day intervention, and wore wrist actigraphy devices to objectively assess sleep, projected performance, and predicted circadian phase outcomes. Compared with the Control group, several objective and subjective sleep outcomes and projected performance scores were improved in the PLTD group. The PLTD group's predicted circadian phase (modeled from actigraphy-derived accelerometer data) more rapidly shifted to align with scheduled work periods. Compliance with PLTD use was high, with no major disruptions to operational duties reported. These data provide initial support for the use of PLTDs as a flexible and customizable countermeasure for fatigue, sleep loss, and circadian misalignment in an operational environment.
精心安排光照时间是一种很有前景的应对措施，可克服轮班工作对睡眠和昼夜节律产生的负面影响。然而，许多光照干预措施是固定不变的，且是在群体层面实施（例如灯组、环境照明的改变），这并不适用于所有人群或场景。本研究调查了通过个人光疗设备（PLTD）进行个性化光照暴露，是否能够改善美国海军潜艇船员的睡眠、维持预期表现并使昼夜节律与工作时间表同步。潜艇是进行PLTD干预的独特试验平台，因为它们提供了一个独立的环境，几乎不受外部时间表或光照的影响。42名潜艇船员被伪随机分配到PLTD组或对照组。PLTD组参与者在醒来后佩戴蓝光暴露眼镜约40分钟，在睡前佩戴防蓝光眼镜约2小时；对照组参与者不使用PLTD。两组在为期12天的干预前后均完成了评估主观睡眠和情绪的问卷，并佩戴手腕活动记录仪以客观评估睡眠、预期表现和预测的昼夜节律相位结果。与对照组相比，PLTD组的几个客观和主观睡眠结果以及预期表现得分均有所改善。PLTD组预测的昼夜节律相位（根据活动记录仪得出的加速度计数据建模）更快地发生变化，以与预定的工作时段保持一致。PLTD的使用依从性很高，未报告对作战任务有重大干扰。这些数据为在作战环境中使用PLTD作为应对疲劳、睡眠不足和昼夜节律失调的灵活且可定制的对策提供了初步支持。
