NCT02448433

Phototherapy in Young People With Depression

Phototherapy in Young People With Depression; Investigating Associations Between Changes in Actigraphic Sleep-wake Profile and Depressive Symptoms

• Status: Unknown
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 60 (estimated)
• Sponsor: University of Ottawa · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 13 Years – 30 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

Bright light therapy is an established treatment pathway for sleep and circadian disorders and evidence suggests that it has antidepressant effects. The underlying mechanisms of these antidepressant effects are not fully understood and results from previous studies are somewhat variable. One of the important limitations of previous depression studies has been the heterogeneity of samples in which bright light therapy has been administered. The main aim of this study is to evaluate whether the antidepressant effects of phototherapy in young persons with depression are modulated by changes in the sleep-wake cycle. We hypothesize that more pronounce initial sleep-phase delay will predict better antidepressant response to phototherapy and that the magnitude of changes in depressive symptoms across the course of the intervention will correlate with changes in the sleep-wake cycle.

Conditions

• Depression

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
DEVICE	Phototherapy light-emitting glasses	The intervention consists of four weeks of bright light exposure with light-emitting glasses (blue-green 500 nm dominant wavelength; 506 Lux lm/m\^2) upon awakening and progressive shift to earlier wake-up times. Participants are encouraged to complete the light exposure sessions for 60 min each day. Participants are also instructed to progressively shift their schedule 15 min earlier every day. This shift continues until the end of the four weeks of the intervention, or stops if the target wake-up time of 7:30am is reached (in which case, participants keep a stable wake-up and light session schedule at 7.30am for the remainder of the intervention). If participants already wake-up before 7.30am at study entry, they do the light exposure sessions upon awakening across the four weeks of the intervention. During the intervention, participants are asked to note down the time of each light exposure session in a diary. Adherence is also monitored and promoted through weekly phone calls.

Timeline

• Start date: 2015-04-01
• Primary completion: 2017-04-01
• First posted: 2015-05-19
• Last updated: 2015-05-19

Locations

2 sites across 2 countries: Australia, Canada