Abstract
Background: The wide-reaching effects of light on human health and wellbeing have been highlighted by various basic laboratory findings. However, there is no consensus or standard on how light characteristics in these studies should be reported. The objective of the ENLIGHT project is to develop the first consensus-based reporting guide-lines for laboratory-based light-exposure interventions. Methods: The project follows a modified Delphi process with four rounds. Rounds 1 and 2 serve to identify the initial set of items for the reporting guidelines using importance ratings, leading to an initial draft of a checklist. Feedback on the checklist will be discussed in synchronous discussions in Round 3, with a final questionnaire-based query in Round 4. The project is registered on the EQUATOR Network and the Open Science Framework. We are currently completing Round 2. Results: In Round 1, we invited 115 experts, of whom 65 (36 female) completed Round 1. Participants were mainly based in Europe and North America, with representation from Asia, Australia and South America. More than 90% reported having a doctoral degree ( median award year 2004, with range 1968–2021), and the majority (75.4%) reported being a principal investigator or equivalent. From an initial item pool of 61 items, 24 reached the threshold for definitive inclusion as they were rated important by ≥75% of participants. The 37 items that did not reach this threshold were rated as either unimportant, or unknown, by between 8 and 60% of participants. Hence, no items were rated as unimportant by ≥75% of participants, so none of the items met the threshold for definite exclusion. For 18 items, ≥20% of participants reported not recognizing the item and consequently not being able to evaluate its importance. These items mostly concerned color (rendition) metrics as well as CIE S026 α-opic quantities. We constructed a draft checklist from the Round 1 results, which is currently being evaluated in Round 2. Conclusion: The ENLIGHT project is still ongoing, with the goal of synchronous discussion sessions (Round 3) taking place in June/July and the final questionnaire-based round (Round 4) being completed in Fall 2022.
