Status:
ENROLLING_BY_INVITATION
Bright Light Therapy for Depressed Geriatric Inpatients
Lead Sponsor:
Medical University of South Carolina
Collaborating Sponsors:
National Institutes of Health (NIH)
National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)
Conditions:
Unipolar Depression
Eligibility:
All Genders
60+ years
Phase:
PHASE2
Brief 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....
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)...
Eligibility Criteria
Inclusion
- Inclusion criteria:
- A current episode of non-psychotic unipolar depression as the primary reason for psychiatric hospitalization
- Currently hospitalized on the MUSC Senior Care Unit
- Age 60 years or older
- HAMD-17 ≥8
- Exclusion criteria:
- Any prior use of bright light therapy
- Primary indication for hospitalization is for a disorder other than major depressive disorder (determined by patient's treatment team)
- Photosensitive medical conditions or current use of photosensitizing medications - if patients have been advised by a treating clinician at any point to avoid sunlight because of their current medication regimen or medical condition, they will be considered to have a photosensitive medical condition and will be excluded from this study.
- Treatment with ECT; if a patient's condition deteriorates during study participation such that the treatment team feels ECT would be in their best interest, they will be withdrawn from study participation. For logistical and transport purposes, the study team feels that exclusion of patients receiving ECT will be necessarily. Additionally, these patients would likely be excluded from a future larger RCT given that ECT would likely interfere with signal of BLT efficacy.
- Uncontrolled headaches or any migraines within the last month
- Major neurocognitive disorder
- Severe intellectual disability
- Inability to consent for the study
- Active psychosis
- Inmates
Exclusion
Key Trial Info
Start Date :
November 14 2025
Trial Type :
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation :
ESTIMATED
End Date :
April 30 2026
Estimated Enrollment :
20 Patients enrolled
Trial Details
Trial ID
NCT07002554
Start Date
November 14 2025
End Date
April 30 2026
Last Update
December 12 2025
Active Locations (1)
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1
Medical University of South Carolina Institute of Psychiatry Senior Care Unit
Charleston, South Carolina, United States, 29425