Bright Light Therapy for Depressed Geriatric Inpatients

Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC)

Status and phase: Invitation-only; Phase 2

Conditions: Unipolar Depression

Treatments: Device: dim red light; Device: Bright light therapy

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other; NIH

Identifiers

NCT07002554

R25DA020537 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

Pro00139703

Details and patient eligibility

About

Bright light therapy has been shown to be effective for the treatment of both seasonal and non-seasonal unipolar depression as well as bipolar depression, primarily in outpatients under the age of 60. There is a dearth of studies exploring the efficacy of this treatment modality among elderly depressed inpatients, which is our study population.

Full description

Investigators are studying the ability of light therapy to reduce depressive symptoms in elderly patients who are hospitalized with unipolar depression (depression that is not due to bipolar disorder). Participants will receive either active light treatment or inactive treatment (also known as placebo).

Enrollment: 20 estimated patients

Sex: All

Ages: 60+ years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• A current episode of non-psychotic unipolar depression as the primary reason for psychiatric hospitalization
• Currently hospitalized on the MUSC Senior Care Unit
• Age 60 years or older
• HAMD-17 ≥8

Exclusion criteria

• Any prior use of bright light therapy
• Primary indication for hospitalization is for a disorder other than major depressive disorder (determined by patient's treatment team)
• Photosensitive medical conditions or current use of photosensitizing medications - if patients have been advised by a treating clinician at any point to avoid sunlight because of their current medication regimen or medical condition, they will be considered to have a photosensitive medical condition and will be excluded from this study.
• Treatment with ECT; if a patient's condition deteriorates during study participation such that the treatment team feels ECT would be in their best interest, they will be withdrawn from study participation. For logistical and transport purposes, the study team feels that exclusion of patients receiving ECT will be necessarily. Additionally, these patients would likely be excluded from a future larger RCT given that ECT would likely interfere with signal of BLT efficacy.
• Uncontrolled headaches or any migraines within the last month
• Major neurocognitive disorder
• Severe intellectual disability
• Inability to consent for the study
• Active psychosis
• Inmates

Trial design

Primary purpose: Treatment

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Double Blind

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20 participants in 2 patient groups

Bright light therapy

Experimental group

Description:

Participants in the intervention group will receive bright light therapy (BLT) consisting of 10,000 lux of bright white light administered for 30 minutes each morning, ideally within 30 minutes of awakening. Participants in both arms will continue to receive other treatment as usual (group therapy and medication management) as deemed appropriate by their treating clinicians.

Treatment:

Device: Bright light therapy

Dim Red light

Sham Comparator group

Description:

Participants in the control group will receive a placebo condition using an identical light box fitted with a translucent red screen to emit dim red light at an intensity of less than 2,500 lux, which lacks efficacy for depression treatment based on prior research. Participants in both arms will continue to receive other treatment as usual (group therapy and medication management) as deemed appropriate by their treating clinicians.

Treatment:

Device: dim red light