Article Impact Level: HIGH Data Quality: STRONG Summary of Scientific Reports. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-55281-7 Dr. Kyle S. Chan et al.
Points
- Northwestern Medicine researchers analyzed health insurance data from 12,640,343 adults aged 18 to 64 to determine how daylight saving time shifts affect retinal health.
- Incidence rates of retinal artery occlusion, retinal vein occlusion, proliferative diabetic retinopathy, and neovascular age-related macular degeneration were evaluated over one-week and one-month post-transition periods.
- Spring daylight saving transitions were associated with up to a 30% increased risk of new proliferative diabetic retinopathy and neovascular age-related macular degeneration diagnoses.
- Autumn daylight saving transitions gaining an hour of sleep demonstrated a protective effect, corresponding to a 20% lower risk of retinal vein occlusion and diabetic retinopathy.
- Study authors recommend interdisciplinary collaboration between ophthalmology, neurology, and sleep medicine to better understand circadian disruption impacts on metabolic microvasculature.
Summary
The association between daylight saving time (DST) transitions and the incidence of new-onset retinal vascular disease. Transitions to DST disrupt circadian rhythms, triggering systemic inflammation and endothelial dysfunction similar to pathways implicated in acute cardiovascular events. Given that the highly metabolic microvasculature of the retina reflects systemic vascular health, researchers sought to determine whether spring and fall DST shifts alter the acute risk of retinal artery occlusion (RAO), retinal vein occlusion (RVO), proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR), and neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nvAMD).
Using the Merative MarketScan Commercial Database from 2012 to 2014, investigators conducted a nationwide retrospective cohort analysis of 12,640,343 eligible patients aged 18 to 64 years out of a broader cohort of 18 million insured individuals. Survival analysis utilizing Kaplan-Meier curves and Cox proportional hazards models assessed the incidence of new diagnoses during 1-week and 1-month periods following DST transitions relative to summer (July) and winter (January) control windows.
The analysis revealed marked bidirectional risk shifts based on transition direction. Following the spring DST transition (losing one hour of sleep), there was a statistically significant increase of up to 30% in newly diagnosed PDR and nvAMD during the subsequent 1-month period. Conversely, following the fall DST transition (gaining one hour of sleep), patients exhibited up to a 20% lower risk of new-onset RVO and PDR compared to the summer control period. These findings demonstrate that circadian disruption acutely impacts retinal vascular integrity, prompting clinicians to consider DST-induced metabolic and inflammatory stress when evaluating new ocular symptoms following seasonal time shifts.
Link to the article: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-026-55281-7
References
Chan, K. S., Cheng, B. T., Banker, M. M., Zee, P. C., & Mirza, R. G. (2026). Daylight saving time transition and new-onset retinal vascular disease: A nationwide cohort study. Scientific Reports. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-55281-7
