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

Sleep apnea is one of the most common chronic condition among US military Veterans, causing sleepiness, reduced psychomotor vigilance and depression, which undermine daytime functioning and quality of life. 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. Residual daytime sleepiness (RDS) is associated with reduced occupational and family functioning and overall lower quality of life. Napping is a common behavior among individuals with OSA and RDS and has been linked to both benefits to and decline in health and functioning. Longer nap times may maintain, as opposed to decrease, sleepiness by promoting sleep inertia and can contribute to maintaining subclinical circadian alterations that result in higher night-tonight variability in sleep patterns. Preliminary studies in humans and animal models have shown persisting alterations of circadian rhythms in OSA patients, that fail to normalize with CPAP treatment. CPAP treatment, while effective at correcting respiratory events and night time blood oxygen saturation levels, does not necessarily re-align the circadian system. Current treatment options are limited to stimulants and modafinil, whose long-term safety profile, effectiveness and impact on functional recovery is largely unknown. 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. However, no study to date has tested the application of BLT to treat daytime symptoms associated with sleep apnea. The investigators' study will be the first to 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.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Obstructive Sleep Apnea
• Intervention / Treatment: Device: Bright light therapy glasses

Detailed Description

Due to COVID-19 pandemic emergency measures, recruitment for clinical trials is currently on hold

Background: Sleep apnea is one of the most common chronic condition among US military Veterans , it causes sleepiness, reduced psychomotor vigilance and depression, which undermine daytime functioning and quality of life . Persistent daytime symptoms of sleepiness and depression in individuals with OSA who are using Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) are associated with adverse long term medical and functional outcomes . Current treatment options are limited to stimulants and modafinil, whose long-term safety profile, effectiveness and impact on functional recovery is largely unknown. The mechanisms for residual daytime symptoms in CPAP-treated sleep apnea are poorly understood and very little attention has been placed on interplay between sleep apnea and the circadian system. Notably, sleepiness, fatigue and depression, cardinal symptoms of OSA syndrome, are common manifestations of circadian misalignment. Circadian rhythms are synchronized to the environmental light or dark and to social activity cycles by zeitgebers (time givers) .Preliminary studies in humans and animal models have shown persisting alterations of circadian rhythms in OSA patients, that fail to normalize with CPAP treatment. CPAP treatment, while effective at correcting respiratory events and night time blood oxygen saturation levels, does not necessarily re-align the circadian system. 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. However, no study to date has tested the application of BLT to treat daytime symptoms associated with sleep apnea. The investigators' study will be the first to 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.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 15
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

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

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 50 years to 65 years (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Veterans from the VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System (VAPHS)
• Documented diagnosis of OSA
• Currently on CPAP or BiPAP with documented adherence (defined as wearing CPAP/BiPAP for >4h/night on at least 75% of nights)
• Excessive residual daytime sleepiness (Epworth score > 10)
• Endorsing depressive symptoms (Quick Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology (Self-Report) [QIDS-SR] score>8)

Exclusion Criteria:

• Shift work
• Travel across time zones in the past month
• Narcolepsy
• Congestive heart failure (CHF)
• Poorly controlled diabetes (HgA1c>7%)
• Active substance use disorder
• Dementia
• Bipolar disorder

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Crossover Assignment
• Masking: Single

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Retimer bright light therapy glasses; active bright light therapy in the green/blue spectrum range	Device: Bright light therapy glasses; Bright light therapy delivered through glasses; Other Names: BLT
Sham Comparator: sham-Retimer bright light therapy glasses; bright light therapy with light in the red spectrum (not active)	Device: Bright light therapy glasses; Bright light therapy delivered through glasses; Other Names: BLT

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Feasibility of Recruitment and Retention	Number of participants recruited, number of participants retained, number of participants with complete data	baseline to week 9
Epworth Sleepiness Scale	Brief self report questionnaire used to quantify degree of daytime sleepiness. Minimum score is 0,maximum score is 24; values below 10 are considered normal	pre- treatment=baseline; post-treatment=4 weeks

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Functional Outcomes of Sleep Questionnaire (FOSQ-10)	Assesses impact of sleep related disturbances on daily functioning. It is a likert scale whose scaling of items is from zero to four. The potential range of scores for the total score is 5-20, with higher scores indicating worse functioning	pre-treatment=baseline; post-treatment=4 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: VA Office of Research and Development
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Isabella Soreca, MD, VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System University Drive Division, Pittsburgh, PA

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): September 1, 2020
• Primary Completion (Actual): September 13, 2022
• Study Completion (Actual): September 13, 2022

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: March 2, 2020
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: March 5, 2020
• First Posted (Actual): March 6, 2020

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): March 25, 2025
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: January 15, 2025
• Last Verified: January 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: CPAP; sleep apnea; daytime sleepiness; bright light therapy
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Nervous System Diseases; Respiratory Tract Diseases; Respiration Disorders; Sleep Wake Disorders; Signs and Symptoms, Respiratory; Sleep Disorders, Intrinsic; Dyssomnias; Sleep Apnea Syndromes; Sleep Apnea, Obstructive; Apnea
• Other Study ID Numbers: E3304-P; 1I21RX003304-01A1 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No
• product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.: No