IMPACT OF DAYLIGHT EXPOSURE ON HEALTH, WELLBEING AND SLEEP OF OFFICE WORKERS BASED ON ACTIGRAPHY, SURVEYS, AND COMPUTER SIMULATION

摘要

The purpose of this study is to examine how daylight exposure affects the healthand well-being of office workers. Sleep actigraphy and health and well-being relatedsurvey data were the main dependent variables in this study. Research samples werecomposed of participants from the United States and South Korea, each set ofworkers divided into those having daylight at their workplaces and those without.Fifty participants in total wore for two weeks actiwatches equipped with light sensorsto measure sleep quality and exposure to ambient light levels. Additional health andwell-being measurements were taken using well established survey instruments suchas the SF-36 for general and mental health, and the Pittsburg Sleep Quality Index(PSQI) for sleep. In order to estimate the levels of daylight participants were exposedto, computer simulation was used to generate the total annual daylight levels in eachparticipant’s office. Our results seem to indicate that working in daylit office spaceswould lead to higher sleep quality and higher scores of the health and well-beingscales compared to those who do not work under daylight conditions. Our findingsindicate that it is important to provide and maintain significant daylight levels atthe workplace. Consequently, in terms of architectural design, building orientation,building dimensions, and the size and height of windows should be taken into considerationto optimize or maximize daylight exposure.