Strobe lighting at music events is posing a major risk for people with epilepsy, Dutch researchers warn today.
Dr Newel Salet at VU Medish Centrum, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, and his team explain in BMJ Open today (12 June) that electronic dance music concerts are becoming increasingly popular.
Because stroboscopic light effects are often part of these shows, the team examined whether they might provoke seizures in people with photosensitive epilepsy. As an example, they outline the case of a young man who had a seizure during an electronic dance music concert, then later had a positive reaction to a brain activity test when shown video footage of the same concert.
Dr Salet and colleagues observed 28 electronic dance music concerts attended by 400,343 people.
Analysis showed that those exposed to stroboscopic light effects had 3.5 times the risk of epileptic seizures compared with those at daylight concerts. Drug use appeared to be unrelated to these seizures.
They conclude: “Stroboscopic light effects during electronic dance music concerts occurring in darkness probably more than triple the risk of epileptic seizures.
“Regardless of whether stroboscopic light effects are solely responsible or whether sleep deprivation and/or substance abuse also play a role, the appropriate interpretation is that large [electronic dance music] festivals, especially during nighttime, probably cause at least a number of people per event to suffer epileptic seizures.”
They add: “Concert organisers and audience should warn against the risk of seizures and promote precautionary measures in susceptible individuals.”
Salat, N. et al. Stroboscopic light effects during electronic dance music festivals and photosensitive epilepsy: a cohort study and case report. BMJ Open 12 June 2019 doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2018-023442
http://bmjopen.bmj.com/lookup/doi/10.1136/bmjopen-2018-023442
Leave a Reply