Effect of Personalized Blue-Enriched White Light Intervention on Rest-Activity and Light Exposure Rhythms in Mild and Moderate Alzheimer's Disease

Psychiatry Investig. 2023 Nov;20(11):1007-1017. doi: 10.30773/pi.2023.0079. Epub 2023 Nov 21.

Abstract

Objective: We aimed to examine the effectiveness of personalized light intervention using a blue-enriched light-emitting-diodes device on rest-activity rhythm (RAR) and light exposure rhythm (LER) in patients with mild and moderate Alzheimer's disease (AD).

Methods: AD patients with poor sleep quality and/or insomnia symptoms were assigned into either an experimental group (EG) or control group (CG) in a single-blind design. Personalized light intervention was given at 9-10 h after individual dim light melatonin onset, lasting for 1 h every day for two weeks in the EG (77.36±5.79 years, n=14) and CG (78.10±7.98 years, n=10). Each patient of CG wore blue-attenuating sunglasses during the intervention. Actigraphy recording at home for 5 days was done at baseline (T0), immediate postintervention (T1), and at four weeks after intervention (T2). The variables of RAR and LER were derived using nonparametric analysis.

Results: We found a significant time effect on the intradaily variability (IV) of RAR at T2 with respect to T0 (p=0.039), indicating reduced IV of RAR at four weeks after personalized light intervention regardless of blue-enriched light intervention. There was a time effect on the IV of LER at T1 with respect to T0 (p=0.052), indicating a reduced tendency in the IV of LER immediately after intervention.

Conclusion: Our personalized light intervention, regardless of blue-enriched light source, could be useful in alleviating fragmentation of RAR and LER in AD patients.

Keywords: Alzheimer’s disease; Intradaily variability; Light exposure rhythm; Personalized light intervention; Rest–activity rhythm.