Light intensity affects humans in multiple ways. We aimed to characterize the potential impact of light intensity on patients’ pain management experience in the perioperative setting. Within the German multicenter registry project QUIPS, we collected patient reported outcomes (PROs) concerning pain and side effects, demographics and perioperative pain medication, and measured the light intensity in their rooms on the first postoperative day. Primary endpoint was maximum pain intensity rated on the numerical rating scale (NRS, 0-10). Secondary endpoints were pain intensity during movement, mood, nausea, tiredness and satisfaction. Measurement of light intensity was done with a calibrated light meter. For analysis, we used linear and log-linear regression models with age, gender, pre-existing chronic pain, ASA status, and logarithmized light intensity as independent variables. Data of 539 surgical patients from 9 hospitals were included. We found no significant effect of light intensity on the primary endpoint. However, we observed a strong positive correlation between nausea and light intensity.
Perspective: Our study indicates that further investigations about the clinical importance of light exposure with regard to nausea and other medical conditions might be worthwhile.
Trial registration: QUIPS is registered in the German Clinical Trials Register (DRKS00006153)