BACKGROUND AND AIM: Improvement in patients admitted to inpatient wards with severe depression is slow, and such patients are often discharged with residual symptoms which put them at risk for relapse. New treatments that can speed up recovery are highly desired. This naturalistic follow-up study in a specialized affective disorders unit investigated the impact of daylight on the length of hospital stay and improvement of depression. METHODS: For a period of 1 year, we collected data on sociodemographics, length of stay, vitamin D, and depression severity for patients in an inpatient affective disorders unit. The ward is located with one facade that faces southeast (SE); the opposite one faces northwest (NW) and receives far less light and no direct sunlight during winter. RESULTS: SE-facing rooms received far more daylight than NW-facing rooms. The length of stay was significantly lower in the SE rooms, i.e., 29.2 (±26.8) versus 58.8 (±42.0) days in the NW rooms (p = 0.01). There was a statistically nonsignificant greater reduction of 52.2% in depression severity for the patients staying in the SE rooms compared to 42.2% in the NW rooms, which may nevertheless be clinically relevant. CONCLUSION: Due to the study design, no causality for the observed difference in length of stay can be given, but the results support findings in previous studies of the importance of architectural orientation providing natural daylight as a factor for improvement.
BACKGROUND AND AIM: Improvement in patients admitted to inpatient wards with severe depression is slow, and such patients are often discharged with residual symptoms which put them at risk for relapse. New treatments that can speed up recovery are highly desired. This naturalistic follow-up study in a specialized affective disorders unit investigated the impact of daylight on the length of hospital stay and improvement of depression. METHODS: For a period of 1 year, we collected data on sociodemographics, length of stay, vitamin D, and depression severity for patients in an inpatient affective disorders unit. The ward is located with one facade that faces southeast (SE); the opposite one faces northwest (NW) and receives far less light and no direct sunlight during winter. RESULTS: SE-facing rooms received far more daylight than NW-facing rooms. The length of stay was significantly lower in the SE rooms, i.e., 29.2 (±26.8) versus 58.8 (±42.0) days in the NW rooms (p = 0.01). There was a statistically nonsignificant greater reduction of 52.2% in depression severity for the patients staying in the SE rooms compared to 42.2% in the NW rooms, which may nevertheless be clinically relevant. CONCLUSION: Due to the study design, no causality for the observed difference in length of stay can be given, but the results support findings in previous studies of the importance of architectural orientation providing natural daylight as a factor for improvement.
Authors: Signe Dunker Svendsen; Anne Sofie Aggestrup; Lasse Benn Nørregaard; Philip Løventoft; Anne Præstegaard; Konstantin V Danilenko; Mads Frost; Ulla Knorr; Ida Hageman; Lars Vedel Kessing; Klaus Martiny Journal: BMC Psychiatry Date: 2019-04-25 Impact factor: 3.630
Authors: Carlo Volf; Anne Sofie Aggestrup; Paul Michael Petersen; Carsten Dam-Hansen; Ulla Knorr; Ema Erkocevic Petersen; Janus Engstrøm; Janus C Jakobsen; Torben Skov Hansen; Helle Østergaard Madsen; Ida Hageman; Klaus Martiny Journal: BMJ Open Date: 2020-01-26 Impact factor: 2.692
Authors: Carlo Volf; Anne Sofie Aggestrup; Signe Dunker Svendsen; Torben Skov Hansen; Paul Michael Petersen; Carsten Dam-Hansen; Ulla Knorr; Ema Erkocevic Petersen; Janus Engstrøm; Ida Hageman; Janus Christian Jakobsen; Klaus Martiny Journal: Pilot Feasibility Stud Date: 2020-01-15
Authors: Mirjam Münch; Anna Wirz-Justice; Steven A Brown; Thomas Kantermann; Klaus Martiny; Oliver Stefani; Céline Vetter; Kenneth P Wright; Katharina Wulff; Debra J Skene Journal: Clocks Sleep Date: 2020-02-28