NCT05299723

The SleepWell Study - Chronotherapeutic Intervention to Improve Sleep Following ACS

A Pilot Chronotherapeutic Intervention to Improve Sleep Following Acute Coronary Syndrome: The SleepWell Study

• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 19 (actual)
• Sponsor: Columbia University · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

This two-phase pilot study will test the feasibility of a "combined chronotherapy" (CC) intervention consisting of morning bright light therapy (BLT) and evening blue light blocking (BLB), administered daily for 4 weeks in patients who experienced acute coronary syndrome (ACS). Phase A of the study will be a single-arm open-label study of the home-based CC intervention in 5 post-ACS patients. Phase B of the study will be a parallel-arm randomized clinical trial (RCT) in which 15 post-ACS patients will be randomized (using a 2:1 allocation) to active CC treatment or sleep hygiene education control group. In Phase A and Phase B, the primary aims are study feasibility, acceptability, appropriateness, and usability. In Phase B, the investigator will additionally assess whether the intervention engages its proposed proximal target mechanism - sleep.

Detailed description

Survivors of acute medical events often experience psychological distress including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The goal of this project is to conduct preliminary testing of a chronotherapeutic intervention targeting disturbed sleep in survivors of ACS. There are many ways to try and improve sleep. Some of these include taking medications or working with a trained sleep specialist. The goal of this research study is to investigate the usefulness of a new way of trying to improve sleep (an "intervention") that does not involve taking medications or working with a specialist or therapist. Chronotherapeutic interventions are non-pharmacologic approaches that target the circadian or sleep-wake cycle to improve behavioral or health outcomes. Light is the strongest external signal for the human circadian system and manipulations of the light environment (e.g., morning bright light exposure and evening light avoidance) are effective in improving sleep and mood. Participants in Phase A of this study will be asked to use a light visor to administer light to the eye each morning (BLT component of the CC) and orange-colored glasses to block out short wavelength ("blue") light to the eye each night before going to bed (BLB component of the CC) for 4 weeks. Participants are also asked to wear an activity/sleep monitor throughout the 4-week period and complete questionnaires about their sleep. Participants will also receive a sleep hygiene education by watching educational videos. In Phase B of the study, participants will be randomized to either the active CC intervention condition (consisting of both the BLT and BLB components along with sleep hygiene education) or a sleep hygiene education only control condition. Participants will be randomized in a 2:1 ratio to CC condition or control condition. All participants (i.e., those in the CC and control groups) will wear an activity/sleep monitor throughout the 4-week period and complete questionnaires about their sleep. There will also be a 3 month follow up after the end of the 4-week intervention period for both groups where we assess sleep outcomes.

Conditions

• Sleep Disturbance
• Insomnia
• Acute Coronary Syndrome

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
BEHAVIORAL	BLT Intervention	BLT will be administered via a Luminette 3 light therapy visor. The Luminette 3 is a visor worn above the eyes containing light emitting diode (LEDs) emitting a blue-enriched white light reflecting to the retina at 1,000 lux via a holographic system in order to ensure correct penetration into the eye without impeding vision. This range of light and intensity is sufficient to synchronize the circadian clock.
BEHAVIORAL	BLB Intervention	BLB will be administered via orange lenses that filter out short-wavelength blue light, while allowing the other visible spectrum light to pass. The BLB lenses result in a reduction in melanopic irradiance (i.e., the light that affects sleep) of about 85%. The BLB lenses only make the overall light environment about 30% dimmer. Therefore, the BLB lenses are effective in blocking out most of the blue light in the visible environment that impacts sleep, but do not result in drastic overall dimming/darkening of the light environment.
BEHAVIORAL	Sleep Hygiene Education	The sleep hygiene education will consist of watching a sleep education video (background on the regulation of sleep, the impacts of insufficient sleep on mental and physical health, etc.) and a sleep hygiene video (providing overview of sleep hygiene approaches).

Timeline

• Start date: 2022-04-18
• Primary completion: 2024-02-27
• Completion: 2024-06-26
• First posted: 2022-03-29
• Last updated: 2025-01-07
• Results posted: 2025-01-07

Locations

1 site across 1 country: United States