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Bright light treatment improves sleep in institutionalised elderly--an open trial
Arne Fetveit1, Arvid Skjerve, Bjørn Bjorvatn
1Department of Public Health and Primary Health Care, Section for General Practice, University of Bergen, Norway.
Study Objectives:
This study evaluates the effects of bright light therapy among demented nursing home patients with sleep disturbances.
Design And Setting:
11 nursing home patients with actigraphically measured sleep efficiency below 85% took part in an open, non-randomised study where the subjects served as their own control.
Intervention:
After two weeks of baseline measurements and two weeks of pretreatment measurements, patients received bright light exposure 2 h/day within the period 08:00-11:00 for two weeks.
Measurements And Results:
Sleep-wake patterns during the 24-h day were evaluated by nursing staff ratings and wrist-worn motor activity devices (actigraphs). Sleep improved substantially with bright light exposure. Waking time within nocturnal sleep was reduced by nearly two h, and sleep efficiency improved from 73% to 86%. Corresponding improvements were found in nursing staff ratings. Effects were consistent across subjects.
Conclusions:
The findings add further evidence of the effectiveness of morning bright light exposure in the treatment of disturbed sleep among demented nursing home patients.