Clinical trial NCT03483896: Pilot Study to Examine Health Effects of Daylight Exposure on Dementia Patients
Official title: Pilot Study to Examine the Effects of Indoor Daylight Exposure on Depression and Other Neuropsychiatric Symptoms in People Living With Dementia in Long Term Care Facilities
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Phase: NA
Conditions: Dementia
Depression
Behavior Disorders
Lead sponsor: University of Southern California
Sponsor class: OTHER
First posted: 2018-03-30
Enrollment: 83
Sex: ALL
Standard ages: CHILD
ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: yes
Allocation: NON_RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Primary purpose: BASIC_SCIENCE

Brief summary: This study is designed to test the hypothesis that an intervention increasing exposure to daylight indoors will reduce depression and other neuropsychiatric symptoms among people living with dementia in long term care facilities.

Detailed description: Exposure to sufficient daylight indoors is a novel and potentially effective nonpharmacological treatment option for reducing depression and other neuropsychiatric symptoms for people living with dementia in long term care facilities. However, there are currently no minimum requirements for daylight access in care facilities. In urban settings, it is common for residents to spend the majority of the day indoors, illuminated by electrical light sources that deliver light with significantly lower intensities and reduced spectrum compared with daylight.

A 12-week pilot study was conducted in 8 dementia care facilities involving (n = 83) participants addressing the hypothesis that an intervention increasing indoor exposure to daylight will reduce depression and other neuropsychiatric symptoms. At 4 facilities, staff was enlisted to increase daylight exposure by taking participants to a perimeter room with daylight exposure for socialization in the morning (8:00 - 10:00 AM) each day. At the other 4 facilities, a control group were taken to a similar sized area without daylight for socialization under typical electrical lighting conditions. Outcome measures for depression and other neuropsychiatric symptoms were taken at the beginning and end of the 12-week study.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* Residents were recruited according to the trial inclusion criteria: 1) Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRD) diagnosis, 2) no physical co-morbidities that precluded participation in the daily group intervention, and 3) a Mini-Mental State Exam (MMSE) score of 10 or higher

Exclusion Criteria:

* physical co-morbidities that precluded participation in the daily group intervention

Primary outcomes:
measure: Change in Cornell Scale for Depression in Dementia (CSDD)
timeFrame: A CSDD score was taken at the beginning of the 12-week study and once again at the end of the 12-week study.
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Change in Neuropsychiatric Inventory Nursing Home Version (NPI-NH)
timeFrame: A NPI-NH score was taken at the beginning of the 12-week study and once again at the end of the 12-week study.
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Alhambra
country: United States
facility: Alhambra Dementia Care
state: California
city: Azusa
country: United States
facility: Sierra Vista Memory Care Community
state: California
city: Calabasas
country: United States
facility: Calabasas Memory Care Community
state: California
city: Costa Mesa
country: United States
facility: Costa Mesa Dementia Care
state: California
city: Los Angeles
country: United States
facility: Los Angeles Dementia Care (Beverly Place)
state: California
city: Redondo Beach
country: United States
facility: Redondo Beach Dementia Care (Beach Cities)
state: California
city: San Juan Capistrano
country: United States
facility: San Juan Capistrano Memory Care Community
state: California
city: Tustin
country: United States
facility: Tustin Hacienda Memory Care Community
state: California
Study officials:
affiliation: University of Southern California
name: Kyle Konis, Ph.D
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References: