F33
Conditions
Interventions
Group 1: treatments at home for four weeks: light room, 72,000 lumen, 6 hours/day
Group 2: treatments at home for four weeks: light box, 10,000 lux, 30 minutes/day
Sponsors
Fakultät für GesundheitUniversität Witten/Herdecke
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
All
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Inclusion criteria
Inclusion criteria: We will include patients suffering from “major depressive disorder (recurrent episode) with a winter seasonal pattern” and use the structured clinical interview of the DSM-V for diagnosis because it is considered the gold standard for diagnosing winter depression (24, 25). We will only include patients who are usually at home for at least 6 hours during morning and afternoon (before 18:00), on at least 5 days per week (e.g. people that work from home, stay-at-home parents, people without employment …)
Exclusion criteria
Exclusion criteria: We will exclude: patients who have used light therapy in the previous four months to avoid carryover effects patients with ocular diseases or who are taking photosensitising medication to reduce the risk of damaging their eyes, patients who do shift work, because we want to study the effects of light therapy in the morning after a night of sleep, which is not possible for these people, pregnant participants, in case this new treatment has any unforeseen negative effects on unborn babies, patients who have started or stopped taking melatonin in the previous four months, because this is a different treatment for winter depression that might introduce too much variance, patients who have started taking a new antidepressant in the previous six weeks, because this would introduce too much variance, patients who are not fit to consent, patients with a history of at least one manic episode.
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame |
|---|---|
| Symptom severity after 4 weeks of treatment: Questionnaire on SAD symptoms, the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale-Seasonal Affective Disorders (SIGH-SAD) | — |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame |
|---|---|
| - Symptom severity after 2 weeks of treatment as measured by SIGH-SAD - Fraction of patients in remission after 2 and 4 weeks - Patients’ qualitative impression of treatment after 4 weeks | — |
Countries
Germany
Contacts
Public ContactHelge Müller
Integrative Psychiatrie und PsychotherapieFakultät für GesundheitUniversität Witten/HerdeckeundKlinik für Psychiatrie und PsychotherapieGemeinschaftskrankenhaus Herdecke (Universität Witten/Herdecke)Gerhard-Kienle-Weg 4, 58313 Herdecke
Outcome results
None listed