Effects of Bright Light Therapy on Agitation Among Older Adults Living with Dementia in Macao: A Pilot Study

ABSTRACT

A randomized controlled trial was conducted to examine the effects of bright light therapy on agitation in older adults with dementia in Macao. This study involved 31 participants: 10 in the outdoor light treatment group, 11 in the indoor light-box treatment group, and 10 in the control group. Significant reductions in agitation were observed in the two treatment groups over four weeks compared to the control group. However, no statistical difference in in cognitive function between experimental and control groups was found. This study supports the use of bright light therapy to reduce agitation in older people with dementia.

KEYWORDS:

• Bright light therapy
• RCT
• dementia
• agitation
• Macao

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the participants for sharing their time to complete this study and thank Drs. Zhansheng Ai and Jierong Hu for their helpful comments on the early version of this manuscript. The authors also would like to express our gratitude to Hope International Volunteer Group (Macao) for their generous support, as they sponsored all the necessary equipment for this study, including light lamps, sleeping mats, and illuminometers.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.