The Effect of Sunlight on Postoperative Analgesic Medication Use: A Prospective Study of Patients Undergoing Spinal Surgery

TLDR

Natural sunlight exposure is linked to improved mood, lower cancer mortality, and shorter hospital stays after myocardial infarction. The study aimed to assess whether hospital room sunlight levels affect patients’ psychosocial health, analgesic use, and medication costs after spinal surgery. The prospective study measured daily sunlight intensity in bright versus dim hospital rooms, recorded analgesic use converted to morphine equivalents, and administered psychological questionnaires to 89 spinal surgery patients. Increased sunlight exposure was associated with reduced stress, marginally lower pain, 22% less hourly analgesic use, and 21% lower medication costs, with bright-side patients consistently using fewer analgesics across all age groups.

Abstract

Exposure to natural sunlight has been associated with improvement in mood, reduced mortality among patients with cancer, and reduced length of hospitalization for patients who have experienced myocardial infarction. Our aim was to evaluate whether the amount of sunlight in a hospital room modifies a patient's psychosocial health, the quantity of analgesic medication used, and the pain medication cost.A prospective study of pain medication use was conducted in 89 patients undergoing elective cervical and lumbar spinal surgery where they were housed on either the "bright" or "dim" side of the same hospital unit. Analgesic medication was converted to standard morphine equivalents for interpatient comparison. The intensity of sunlight in each hospital room was measured daily and psychologic questionnaires were administered on the day after surgery and at discharge.Patients staying on the bright side of the hospital unit were exposed to 46% higher-intensity sunlight on average (p = .005). Patients exposed to an increased intensity of sunlight experienced less perceived stress (p = .035), marginally less pain (p = .058), took 22% less analgesic medication per hour (p = .047), and had 21% less pain medication costs (p = .047). Age quartile was the only other variable found to be a predictor of analgesic use, with a significant negative correlation (p <.001). However, patients housed on the bright side of the hospital consistently used less analgesic medications in all age quartiles.The exposure postoperatively of patients who have undergone spinal surgery to increased amounts of natural sunlight during their hospital recovery period may result in decreased stress, pain, analgesic medication use, and pain medication costs.