Agitated behavior, which is usually accompanied with sleep disturbance is common in demented elderly. These problems are related to circadian rhythm changes which occur in aging and pathologic process of dementia, decreased exposure to zeitgeber. and environmental factors.
Bright light is known to be a strong zeitgeber of the human circadian rhythm and has been proven effective in improving circadian rhythm disorders. Consequently, bright light has emerged as a possible therapeutic alternative for the problems of sleep and behavioral disturbances.
Several studies have been conducted to evaluate the effect of bright light on improvement of sleep disturbance and agitated behavior of demented elderly, but there hasn't been a consensus about the mechanism and the effective protocol.
The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of light therapy on demented elderly with agitated behavior, accompanied by disturbed sleep pattern.
The protocol was consisted of daily 2 hour's evening exposure to light for 2 weeks and 2,500 lux light was used.
Statistical analysis was done by descriptive statistics and Wilcoxon signed-rank test of SPSS 8.0 for Windows program.
The results were as follows;
1. Agitated behavior scores decreased significantly after treatment(P=0.032).
2. Percentages of sleep during night-time were not significantly changed(P=0.603).
3. Percentages of sleep during daytime were not significantly changed(P=0.809).
It can be concluded from the results of this study, that light therapy is a potent and promising intervention for agitated behavior of demented elderly.
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