Abstract
Objectives
Light therapy has shown promise as a nonpharmacological treatment to help regulate
abnormal sleep-wake patterns and associated behavioral issues prevalent among individuals
diagnosed with Alzheimer disease and related dementia (ADRD). The present study investigated
the effectiveness of a lighting intervention designed to increase circadian stimulation
during the day using light sources that have high short-wavelength content and high
light output.
Methods
Thirty-five persons with ADRD and 34 caregivers completed the 11-week study. During
week 1, subjective questionnaires were administered to the study participants. During
week 2, baseline data were collected using Daysimeters and actigraphs. Researchers
installed the lighting during week 3, followed by 4 weeks of the tailored lighting
intervention. During the last week of the lighting intervention, Daysimeter, actigraph,
and questionnaire data were again collected. Three weeks after the lighting intervention
was removed, a third data collection (post-intervention assessment) was performed.
Results
The lighting intervention significantly increased circadian entrainment, as measured
by phasor magnitude, and sleep efficiency, as measured by actigraphy data, and significantly
reduced symptoms of depression in the participants with ADRD. The caregivers also
exhibited an increase in circadian entrainment during the lighting intervention; a
seasonal effect of greater sleep efficiency and longer sleep duration was also found
for caregivers.
Conclusions
Ambient lighting interventions designed to increase daytime circadian stimulation
can be used to increase sleep efficiency in persons with ADRD and their caregivers
and may also be effective for other populations such as healthy older adults with
sleep problems, adolescents, and veterans with traumatic brain injury.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: October 21, 2015
Accepted:
September 4,
2015
Received in revised form:
September 2,
2015
Received:
July 13,
2015
Identification
Copyright
© 2015 National Sleep Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
