Anxiety & Depression Association of America

Light Therapy for Obsessive-compulsive Disorder (OCD)

Purpose

The goal of this clinical trial is to test whether light therapy is effective for reducing symptoms in young adults with OCD and late bedtimes (1am or later). The main question[s] it aims to answer are: Does light therapy reduce OCD symptoms? Does light therapy advance the circadian clock? If there is a comparison group: Researchers will compare a higher dose of light therapy to a lower dose to see if dose amount affects symptom reduction. Participants will asked to: 1. Wear light therapy glasses for 1 hour each morning and complete a daily light therapy log for 5 weeks 2. Track their sleep every day with a wearable monitor and an electronic sleep diary for 5 weeks 3. Complete a 1-time assessment of sensitivity to light exposure 4. Complete self-report measures of OCD 4 times/day at baseline (2 weeks), mid-treatment (1 week), and end of treatment (1 week)

Condition

Eligibility

Eligible Ages: Between 18 Years and 35 Years
Eligible Genders: All
Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Inclusion Criteria

Primary DSM-5 OCD diagnosis 2. Bedtime 0100 or later 3. Age 18-35 4. English speaking

Exclusion Criteria

Subjects must not be currently participating in another research study that would influence their participation in our study. 2. Diagnostic status 3. Treatment status 4. Night shift work or travel more than 1 time zone outside of Central Standard Time (CST) in the past month 5. Pregnancy status 6. Medication status 7. Regular nicotine or marijuana use

Study Design

Phase: Early Phase 1
Study Type: Interventional
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
Primary Purpose: Treatment
Masking: Double (Participant, Outcomes Assessor)

Arm Groups

Arm	Description	Assigned Intervention
Experimental Higher dose	Participants will be given wearable light therapy devices that emit a higher light intensity.	Behavioral: Light therapy 5 weeks of light therapy administered via wearable light therapy glasses worn for 1 hour each morning after awakening.
Sham Comparator Lower dose	Participants will be given wearable light therapy devices that emit a lower light intensity.	Behavioral: Light therapy 5 weeks of light therapy administered via wearable light therapy glasses worn for 1 hour each morning after awakening.

Recruiting Locations

More Details

Status: Recruiting
Sponsor: Washington University School of Medicine

Study Contact

Rebecca Cox, BA
314-935-8111
scraplab@wustl.edu

Notice

Study information shown on this site is derived from ClinicalTrials.gov (a public registry operated by the National Institutes of Health). The listing of studies provided is not certain to be all studies for which you might be eligible. Furthermore, study eligibility requirements can be difficult to understand and may change over time, so it is wise to speak with your medical care provider and individual research study teams when making decisions related to participation.