Improved indoor lighting improved healthy aging at home – an intervention study in 77-year-old Norwegians

Figures & data

Figure 1 Flowchart describing the stages of the study, the intervention is described by Stages II–V. The baseline Stage I is described elsewhere.³¹.

Table 1 Sociodemographic characteristics of the 77-year-old participants in the intervention and control group at Stage III and participants in the baseline study at Stage I

Variable		IG^a n=30	CG^b n=30	Baseline^c N=114
Gender	Female	17	14	62
	Male	13	16	52
Housing	Detached house	13	13	35
	Apartment/semi-detached	17	17	78
Marital status	Married/cohabitant	17	15	69
	Unmarried/not cohabitant	13	15	44
Ethnic origin	Norwegian	29	29	110
	Danish	1	1	4
Income	High (>39 000 €)	16	14	64
	Low (≤39 000 €)	13	14	44
Education level	More than compulsory school	10	8	31
	Compulsory school	19	22	82

Notes: ^aIntervention group. ^bControl group. ^cBaseline data from the whole sample (Stage I).

Table 2 Change in self-assessed VAS scores (mm) with regard to indoor lighting levels, IADLs and health between Stage V and Stage III

	Stage III IG	Change ^a IG (Median)	p-value IG	Stage III CG	Change ^a CG (Median)	p-value CG	Change ^a IG (Mean)	Change ^a CG (Mean)	p-value difference in change IG vs CG
Indoor light levels	27.6^b	−16	<0.001	11.2	−0.5	0.21	−21.9^c	−2.6	<0.001^c
Ability to perform IADELs	15.8	0	0.03	4.8	0	0.02	−8.8^c	2.9^d	0.003^c
Ability to read/write in the living room	13.6	−4	<0.001	4.4	1	0.44	−12.3^c	−0.2	0.006^c
Ability to read/write at the dining table	4.1	0	0.016	2.0	2	0.27	−3.0^c	1.7	0.019^c
SF-36 PH	65.1	3.25	0.28	59.6	0	0.99	1.1	0.7	0.52
SF-36 MH	76.9	2.25	0.54	76.8	0	0.68	−0.5	−2.1	0.75

Notes: ^aNegative change indicates improvement, positive change indicates deterioration, ^bIG significantly worse at Stage III, ^csignificantly better, ^dsignificantly worse.

Figure 2 The amount of hours used per day (% hours, n=29) for the different preset levels during the intervention period.

Eilertsen G, Horgen G, Kvikstad TM, Falkenberg HK. Happy living in darkness! indoor lighting in relation to activities of daily living, visual and general health in 75-year-olds living at home. J Hous Elderly. 2016;30(2):199–213. doi:10.1080/02763893.2016.1162256

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