Bright Light Therapy for Depression Symptoms in Adults With Cystic Fibrosis (CF) and COPD

Not Applicable

Terminated

Conditions: Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease
Cystic Fibrosis
Depressive Symptoms

Brief Summary: This is a project that will determine whether the use of daily bright light therapy has an effect on depressive symptoms experienced by adult inpatients with CF and COPD. The purpose of this project is to apply a daily 30-minute BLT intervention to hospitalized adult CF and COPD patients in order to decrease symptoms of depression as measured by depression inventory scoring.

Detailed Description: This project will occur on a 29-bed pulmonary step-down unit at a 1,600-bed academic medical center. This unit commonly treats patients with CF, COPD, and other pulmonary complications. The unit's patient care staff will be educated on the bright light lamps in order to prevent interruptions and to encourage compliance.

Recruitment & Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria

Diagnosed with cystic fibrosis or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)
Adult age 18 or older
Admitted to the pulmonary step-down and transplant unit
Score greater than zero on pre-intervention Beck's Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II)

Exclusion Criteria

Pre-existing ophthalmological conditions or photosensitivity
Migraines
Receiving high dose steroids for transplant rejection (due to mood altering qualities),
Antibiotics that increase light sensitivity
Diagnosed with bipolar disorder (light therapy may trigger mania)
Admissions anticipated to span less than 48 hours
Children are being excluded due to the fact that only adult CF and COPD subjects are admitted to University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) Presbyterian hospital

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
Bright Light Therapy (BLT)	Bright Light Therapy (BLT) Lamp	The intervention will consist of daily BLT sessions lasting 30 minutes at approximately 10AM (since many CF and COPD patients may not awaken until this time) starting on the day of admission through discharge for a goal of seven consecutive days. The intervention will use a 10,000-lux light box placed approximately 16-24 inches from the patient's face.

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Change in Pre- and Post-intervention Beck's Depression Inventory II Scores (BDI-II)	First at time of admission, second at end of 7 day goal or upon discharge.	Change between pre-intervention and post-intervention self-reported answer totals to the 21 scored items on BDI-II (minimum score obtainable=0 (absent symptoms); maximum score obtainable=63 (most severe symptoms).

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Number of Days Until Completion of Daily Bright Light Therapy (BLT)	Daily for duration of intervention period (goal/maximum of 7 days).	The RN will sign a daily log indicating what time therapy was initiated and if therapy was refused. These logs will be collected from patient doors at the end of each week by the principal investigator (PI) in order to measure compliance with completion of therapy on a daily basis.

Locations (2): University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Presbyterian Hospital
🇺🇸
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States
University of Pittsburgh
🇺🇸
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States