In-car nocturnal blue light exposure improves motorway driving: a randomized controlled trial

Jacques Taillard, Aurore Capelli, Patricia Sagaspe, Anna Anund, Torbjorn Akerstedt, Pierre Philip, Jacques Taillard, Aurore Capelli, Patricia Sagaspe, Anna Anund, Torbjorn Akerstedt, Pierre Philip

Abstract

Prolonged wakefulness greatly decreases nocturnal driving performance. The development of in-car countermeasures is a future challenge to prevent sleep-related accidents. The aim of this study is to determine whether continuous exposure to monochromatic light in the short wavelengths (blue light), placed on the dashboard, improves night-time driving performance. In this randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, cross-over study, 48 healthy male participants (aged 20-50 years) drove 400 km (250 miles) on motorway during night-time. They randomly and consecutively received either continuous blue light exposure (GOLite, Philips, 468 nm) during driving or 2*200 mg of caffeine or placebo of caffeine before and during the break. Treatments were separated by at least 1 week. The outcomes were number of inappropriate line crossings (ILC) and mean standard deviation of the lateral position (SDLP). Eight participants (17%) complained about dazzle during blue light exposure and were removed from the analysis. Results from the 40 remaining participants (mean age ± SD: 32.9±11.1) showed that countermeasures reduced the number of inappropriate line crossings (ILC) (F(2,91.11) = 6.64; p<0.05). Indeed, ILC were lower with coffee (12.51 [95% CI, 5.86 to 19.66], p = 0.001) and blue light (14.58 [CI, 8.75 to 22.58], p = 0.003) than with placebo (26.42 [CI, 19.90 to 33.71]). Similar results were found for SDLP. Treatments did not modify the quality, quantity and timing of 3 subsequent nocturnal sleep episodes. Despite a lesser tolerance, a non-inferior efficacy of continuous nocturnal blue light exposure compared with caffeine suggests that this in-car countermeasure, used occasionally, could be used to fight nocturnal sleepiness at the wheel in blue light-tolerant drivers, whatever their age. More studies are needed to determine the reproducibility of data and to verify if it can be generalized to women.

Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01070004.

Conflict of interest statement

Competing Interests: Dr. Akerstedt has consulted for: Sanofi, AstraZeneca, Johnson&Johnson, Hästens, Apoteksbolaget. Dr. Philip reported receiving payment for lectures from UCB. PHILIPS provided two portable blue lights (goLITE BLU®) for this study and VINCI autoroute/ASF allowed the authors to use their highways for research. There are no patents, products in development or marketed products to declare. This does not alter the authors' adherence to all the PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials.

Figures

Figure 1. Participant flow: The numbers of…
Figure 1. Participant flow: The numbers of participants who were randomly assigned, received intended treatment and were analyzed for the primary outcome.
Figure 2. Protocol Design: sleep-driving period for…
Figure 2. Protocol Design: sleep-driving period for the three substance conditions (placebo, coffee and blue light).
Figure 3. Driving Performance: Mean cumulative number…
Figure 3. Driving Performance: Mean cumulative number of inappropriate line crossings in all substance conditions.
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