A comparison of traditional and high colour temperature lighting on the near acuity of elementary school children

Abstract

The near visual acuity (400 mm distance) of 27 children aged 10-11 years old was measured by a licensed optometrist under two common fluorescent lamps of CCT 3600 K and 5500 K. Acuities were measured for three lighting conditions, either both lamps providing equal task luminance or a condition where the task and room luminance from the 5500 K lamps was set 50% lower. For the equal luminance condition, the results showed visual acuity was significantly better (P B/0.001) under the higher CCT lamp with 24 of 27 children having better acuity. Paired t-tests comparing the lower luminance condition showed significantly less acuity for the 5500 K lamps at the lower luminance, but no significant difference between the 3600 K lamps at the higher luminance compared with the 5500 K lamps at the lower luminance.