Outdoor light at night, air pollution and depressive symptoms: A cross-sectional study in the Netherlands
Abstract
BACKGROUND
Artificial light at night (ALAN) may be an anthropogenic stressor for mental health disturbing humans' natural day-night cycle. However, the few existing studies used satellite-based measures of radiances for outdoor ALAN exposure assessments, which were possibly confounded by traffic-related air pollutants.
OBJECTIVES
To assess 1) whether living in areas with increased exposure to outdoor ALAN is associated with depressive symptoms; and 2) to assess the potential confounding effects of air pollution.
METHODS
We used cross-sectional data from people (N = 10,482) aged 18-65 years in the Netherlands. Depressive symptoms were assessed with the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9). Satellite-measured annual ALAN were taken from the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite. ALAN exposures were assessed at people's home address within 100 and 600 m buffers. We used generalized (geo)additive models to quantify associations between PHQ-9 scores and quintiles of ALAN adjusting for several potential confounders including PM2.5 and NO2.
RESULTS
Unadjusted estimates for the 100 m buffers showed that people in the 2nd to 5th ALAN quintile showed significantly higher PHQ-9 scores than those in the lowest ALAN quintile (βQ2 = 0.503 [95% confidence intervals (CI): 0.207-0.798], βQ3 = 0.587 [95% CI: 0.291-0.884], βQ4 = 0.921 [95% CI: 0.623-1.218], βQ5 = 1.322 [95% CI: 1.023-1.620]). ALAN risk estimates adjusted for individual and area-level confounders (i.e., PM2.5, urbanicity,…
How strong is the evidence?
Evidence Hub reads this as a cross-sectional, done in people. Its evidence level is 4 of 5 (Low · observational). Observational designs can show an association but not prove cause. Reported size: 10,482 participants or records.
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