Scientific Reports (Oct 2022)

Effect of a light-darkness cycle on the body weight gain of preterm infants admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit

  • Manuel Sánchez-Sánchez,
  • Teodoro L. García,
  • Donají Heredia,
  • Isaac Reséndiz,
  • Lorena Cruz,
  • Jacqueline Santiago,
  • Adelina Rojas-Granados,
  • Laura Ubaldo-Reyes,
  • Laura Pérez-Campos-Mayoral,
  • Eduardo Pérez-Campos,
  • Gervacio S. Vásquez,
  • Juan M. Moguel,
  • Romeo Zarate,
  • Oscar García,
  • Luisa Sánchez,
  • Fernando Torres,
  • Alberto Paz,
  • Jesús Elizarraras-Rivas,
  • María T. Hernández-Huerta,
  • Manuel Angeles-Castellanos

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-22533-1
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 12, no. 1
pp. 1 – 8

Abstract

Read online

Abstract The Continuous bright light conditions to which premature infants are subjected while hospitalized in Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICU) can have deleterious effects in terms of growth and development. This study evaluates the benefits of a light/darkness cycle (LDC) in weight and early hospital discharge from the NICU. Subjects were recruited from three participating institutions in Mexico. Eligible patients (n = 294) were premature infants who were hospitalized in the low-risk and high-risk neonatal units classified as stable. The subjects randomized to the experimental group (n = 150) were allocated to LDC conditions are as follows: light from 07:00 to 19:00 and darkness (25 lx) from 19:00 to 07:00. The control group (n = 144) was kept under normal room light conditions (CBL) 24 h a day. Main outcome was weight gain and the effect of reducing the intensity of nocturnal light in development of premature infants. Infants to the LDC gained weight earlier, compared with those randomized to CBL, and had a significant reduction in length of hospital stay. These results highlight those premature infants subjected to a LDC exhibit improvements in physiological development, favoring earlier weight gain and consequently a decrease in hospital stays. ClinicalTrials.gov; 02/09/2020 ID: NCT05230706.