Published online by Cambridge University Press: 16 April 2020
Wake therapy (sleep deprivation) is known to induce a rapid amelioration of depressive symptoms. Recently, techniques using bright light therapy and sleep time control have been developed to sustain the acute response of wake therapy.
The aim of this study was to establish the efficacy of these new methods and to control for the placebo response by incorporating an active control group.
Patients with an actual diagnosis of unipolar or bipolar major depression were randomized to either a wake group or an exercise group and followed for 9 weeks. All patient were treated with duloxetine 60 mg daily. After a one week medication run-in phase, all patient were admitted to an open ward for six days: The wake group had 3 wake nights during their stay in combination with daily bright light treatment and sleep time control and the exercise-group started their exercise program. Bright light and exercise were continued for the whole study period.
Patients in the wake group had a statistically significant larger improvement from immediately after wake therapy and maintained for the rest of the study period. At end of study the Wake group achieved a response / remission rate of 70.2 % and 45.6 %. The exercise group had a response/remission rate of 42.2 % and 23.1 %
The chronotherapeutic intervention induced a rapid and sustained response superior to the response seen in the exercise group.
Comments
No Comments have been published for this article.