Journal of the American Medical Directors Association
Brief ReportLight Therapy for Seniors in Long Term Care
Section snippets
Participants
Participants were residents of a long term care facility in Pennsylvania. In contrast to previous work that focused on target groups with a diagnosed condition, all residents in the highest level of care were permitted to participate regardless of diagnosis and symptoms of mood, sleep, or cognitive disorders.
Participants were assigned to either the treatment (n = 15 at completion) or placebo (n = 13 at completion) group in an alternating fashion based on the order of response to the initial
Results
All measures were analyzed using a general linear mixed model analysis of variance, with significance threshold level of α = 0.05.
On three of the four composite index scores from the MicroCog (General Cognitive Functioning, General Cognitive Proficiency, and Information Processing Accuracy), the blue light treatment group showed significant improvement in comparison with the placebo group (Table 1). Although the general trend was for mean scores of both groups to improve from pre- to
Discussion
After 4 weeks of treatment with blue light, significant improvements in cognition were identified in elderly, long term care residents with multiple medical conditions and functional deficits. These gains occurred in the absence of any reported changes in daytime sleepiness, suggesting that cognitive benefits of light therapy are not necessarily linked to better rest and may be a direct result of light exposure. Similarly, the cognitive gains occurred without significant improvements in
Conclusion
Light therapy using short-wavelength optical radiation, commonly referred to as blue light—30 minutes at 400 lux at the eye, circadian stimulus of 1.714, in the morning, 5 days per week over 4 weeks—significantly improved cognitive function compared with placebo red light. Further investigations of the functional benefits and longevity of the therapeutic effects are needed. No significant changes were detected in reports of daytime sleepiness or depression inventory parameters.
Participants in
Acknowledgments
We gratefully acknowledge the contributions of Dr Robert Bonneau, Dr Alexandros Vgontzas, and Dr Edward Bixler of the Hershey Medical Center, as well as Dr Vicki Gillmore, Dr J. Ken Brubaker, and the staff at Masonic Villages.
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This project was funded by the Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute at Penn State University.