NCT07002554

Bright Light Therapy for Depressed Geriatric Inpatients

The LIGHT-60 Trial - Light Intervention for Geriatric Patients Hospitalized for Depression Treatment

• Status: Enrolling By Invitation
• Phase: Phase 2
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 20 (estimated)
• Sponsor: Medical University of South Carolina · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 60 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

Bright light therapy has been shown to be effective for the treatment of both seasonal and non-seasonal unipolar depression as well as bipolar depression, primarily in outpatients under the age of 60. There is a dearth of studies exploring the efficacy of this treatment modality among elderly depressed inpatients, which is our study population.

Detailed description

Investigators are studying the ability of light therapy to reduce depressive symptoms in elderly patients who are hospitalized with unipolar depression (depression that is not due to bipolar disorder). Participants will receive either active light treatment or inactive treatment (also known as placebo).

Conditions

• Unipolar Depression

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
DEVICE	Bright light therapy	the Verilux® HappyLight® Lumi Plus light therapy box, which delivers UV-free, full-spectrum LED light at an intensity of 10,000 lux
DEVICE	dim red light	The control group will use the same light box device, configured to emit dim red light. This will be achieved by setting the box to its lowest brightness setting and overlaying a translucent red filter over the light display. This setup is intended to maintain the appearance and experience of light exposure while minimizing any therapeutic effect.

Timeline

• Start date: 2025-11-14
• Primary completion: 2027-06-30
• Completion: 2027-07-31
• First posted: 2025-06-03
• Last updated: 2026-04-16

Locations

1 site across 1 country: United States