Bright Light Therapy for OSA

Description

Persistent daytime symptoms of sleepiness in individuals with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) who are using Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) are associated with adverse long term medical and functional outcomes. Supplementary exposure to bright light has beneficial effects on sleep quality and daytime vigilance in healthy individuals and it has been increasingly applied in a variety of sleep and neuropsychiatric conditions. This study will explore the role of Bright Light Therapy (BLT), a well-established non-pharmacological intervention for circadian disturbances, for the treatment of residual daytime symptoms of OSA which do not respond to CPAP. BLT will be delivered via therapy glasses in a cross-over design, where each participant will be exposed to active treatment and sham treatment (4 weeks in each arm) in a randomized order. The hypothesis is that participants will demonstrate improvements in the variables of interest during the four-week active treatment portion of the eight-week crossover study, compared to the four-week sham treatment portion.

Conditions

Obstructive Sleep Apnea

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Study Overview

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Study Details

Study overview

Persistent daytime symptoms of sleepiness in individuals with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) who are using Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) are associated with adverse long term medical and functional outcomes. Supplementary exposure to bright light has beneficial effects on sleep quality and daytime vigilance in healthy individuals and it has been increasingly applied in a variety of sleep and neuropsychiatric conditions. This study will explore the role of Bright Light Therapy (BLT), a well-established non-pharmacological intervention for circadian disturbances, for the treatment of residual daytime symptoms of OSA which do not respond to CPAP. BLT will be delivered via therapy glasses in a cross-over design, where each participant will be exposed to active treatment and sham treatment (4 weeks in each arm) in a randomized order. The hypothesis is that participants will demonstrate improvements in the variables of interest during the four-week active treatment portion of the eight-week crossover study, compared to the four-week sham treatment portion.

Bright Light Therapy for Residual Daytime Symptoms Associated With Obstructive Sleep Apnea

Bright Light Therapy for OSA

Condition
Obstructive Sleep Apnea
Intervention / Treatment

-

Contacts and Locations

Pittsburgh

VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System University Drive Division, Pittsburgh, PA, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States, 15240

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

For general information about clinical research, read Learn About Studies.

Eligibility Criteria

  • * Documented diagnosis of OSA
  • * Currently on CPAP or BiPAP for at least 3 months
  • * with documented adherence (defined as wearing CPAP/BiPAP for \>6h/night on at least 75% of nights), and adequate control of sleep apnea, as indicated by an AHI of 10 or less when on CPAP
  • * Excessive residual daytime sleepiness (Epworth score \> 10)
  • * If taking alertness promoting medication, the investigators will require that they are on a stable dose for at least one month prior to entering the study and that they refrain from dose changes while participating in the study
  • * If already prescribed BLT, subjects must not have used it for at least one month prior to participating
  • * Shift work
  • * Travel across time zones in the past month
  • * Narcolepsy
  • * Regular hypnotics use
  • * Decompensated congestive heart failure (CHF)
  • * Primary central sleep apnea, needing O2 therapy via nasal cannula
  • * Poorly controlled diabetes (HgA1c\>8%)
  • * Active substance use disorder
  • * Dementia
  • * Untreated bipolar disorder
  • * the investigators will consider individuals with a diagnosis of bipolar disorder who are currently in treatment and stable
  • * Macular degeneration, recent lasik surgery (within 3 months)
  • * Legally blind
  • * Taking medication that will cause photosensitivity to blue-green light spectrum wavelength
  • * Already using bright light therapy

Ages Eligible for Study

40 Years to 65 Years

Sexes Eligible for Study

ALL

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Collaborators and Investigators

VA Office of Research and Development,

Isabella Soreca, MD, PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR, VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System University Drive Division, Pittsburgh, PA

Study Record Dates

2027-12-31