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Centre for Policy on Ageing | |
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| A randomized, controlled trial of bright light therapy for agitated behaviors in dementia patients residing in long-term care | | Author(s) | Constantine G Lyketsos, Lori Lindell Veiel, Alva Baker |
| Journal title | International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, vol 14, no 7, July 1999 |
| Pages | pp 520-525 |
| Keywords | Dementia ; Aggression ; Sleep disorders ; Therapy ; Nursing homes ; Clinical surveys ; United States of America. |
| Annotation | Agitated behaviours are common in dementia patients living in chronic care settings; occurrence may be associated with lack of adequate exposure to sunlight and with circadian rhythm disturbances. Previous research has suggested that bright light therapy (BLT) may reduce agitated behaviours in dementia patients. In this study, 15 patients with dementia and agitated behaviours living in residential care were assigned either to morning BLT for 1 hour a day, or to a control condition with dim light exposure. Patients were treated in either condition for 4 weeks, followed by 1 week on no treatment, prior to being crossed over to the other condition. 8 patients completed the entire study, the rest at least 2 weeks. Those randomised to the BLT condition showed statistically significant improvement in nocturnal sleep from a mean of 6.4 hours to 8.1 hours a night 4 weeks later. The sleep of patients in the control condition did not improve significantly. There were no other significant differences between baseline and follow-up, nor between BLT and control treated patients on other outcome measures. However, BLT does not lead to improvements in agitated behaviours in institutionalised patients with non-disturbed sleep-wake cycles. (RH). |
| Accession Number | CPA-990825275 A |
| Classmark | EA: EPB: CTS: LO: LHB: 3G: 7T |
Data © Centre for Policy on Ageing |
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| ...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing. |
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