R01AG075010

A pragmatic crossover trial to test the effectiveness of a novel lighting system to reduce nighttime falls in persons with Alzheimer's disease and related dementias - project summary/abstract.

Having Alzheimer's disease or a related dementia, being ambulatory, and awakening in the night constitute a recipe for a dangerous fall. Add a lighting system that promotes postural stability, and the fall may be avoided. That is exactly what our recent NIH R21 exploratory/developmental randomized crossover trial did, and exactly what we found -- a 34% decrease in falls due to a novel lighting intervention.

The proposed project will build on that preliminary effort; if the results are as promising as suggested, this pragmatic passive lighting system has the potential to reduce falls and related sequelae for countless persons with Alzheimer's disease and related dementias, and to become a new standard of care.

Falls are the primary cause of fatal and non-fatal injuries among persons 65 years of age and older. Dementia is a major risk factor for falls, and assisted living (AL) communities are the primary provider of residential care for ambulatory older adults with dementia, making AL a critical setting in which to reduce falls.

Forty-two percent of the more than 811,000 AL residents across the U.S. have moderate or severe dementia, 84% are ambulatory, and more than a third experience a fall in a six-month period, putting them among the 15% of AL residents who suffer a hip fracture or other serious fall-related injury each year.

Falls are responsible for one-third of all hospitalizations of AL residents, and the resulting injuries may lead to a cascade of events, including worsening function, nursing home transfer, and death. A significant number of these falls occur in the bedroom during the evening and night, when AL staff are not present, thereby limiting their ability to intervene.

However, the cause of many of these falls -- impaired nighttime vision and related postural instability -- suggests a promising avenue for intervention. Specifically, an intervention that does not require staff effort, and that targets orientation and postural stability in the evening and night when lighting is poor and residents may not be fully awake, has great potential to reduce falls in AL.

This project will test the effectiveness of a novel intervention consisting of unobtrusive, low-intensity, horizontal and vertical lights that outline the bathroom or entryway doorframe in residents' rooms and provide visual cues to promote postural stability. The lighting system is particularly attractive and pragmatic because it is low cost, requires no staff involvement, and can be easily installed in new buildings or retrofitted to existing buildings.

Specifically, this pragmatic crossover trial will enroll 390 AL residents with dementia and follow them for one year, comparing the incidence of nighttime falls during the lighting condition to the incidence of falls during the control condition; secondarily, it will determine whether and to what extent the intervention effect is modified by resident- and environmental-level risk factors, and satisfaction with the lighting system.

We expect that the lighting system holds great promise to constitute a new standard of dementia care and falls reduction, appropriate for use in all settings in which persons with Alzheimer's disease and related dementias reside.

University Of North Carolina At Chapel Hill

TO ENCOURAGE BIOMEDICAL, SOCIAL, AND BEHAVIORAL RESEARCH AND RESEARCH TRAINING DIRECTED TOWARD GREATER UNDERSTANDING OF THE AGING PROCESS AND THE DISEASES, SPECIAL PROBLEMS, AND NEEDS OF PEOPLE AS THEY AGE. THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON AGING HAS ESTABLISHED PROGRAMS TO PURSUE THESE GOALS. THE DIVISION OF AGING BIOLOGY EMPHASIZES UNDERSTANDING THE BASIC BIOLOGICAL PROCESSES OF AGING. THE DIVISION OF GERIATRICS AND CLINICAL GERONTOLOGY SUPPORTS RESEARCH TO IMPROVE THE ABILITIES OF HEALTH CARE PRACTITIONERS TO RESPOND TO THE DISEASES AND OTHER CLINICAL PROBLEMS OF OLDER PEOPLE. THE DIVISION OF BEHAVIORAL AND SOCIAL RESEARCH SUPPORTS RESEARCH THAT WILL LEAD TO GREATER UNDERSTANDING OF THE SOCIAL, CULTURAL, ECONOMIC AND PSYCHOLOGICAL FACTORS THAT AFFECT BOTH THE PROCESS OF GROWING OLD AND THE PLACE OF OLDER PEOPLE IN SOCIETY. THE DIVISION OF NEUROSCIENCE FOSTERS RESEARCH CONCERNED WITH THE AGE-RELATED CHANGES IN THE NERVOUS SYSTEM AS WELL AS THE RELATED SENSORY, PERCEPTUAL, AND COGNITIVE PROCESSES ASSOCIATED WITH AGING AND HAS A SPECIAL EMPHASIS ON ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE. SMALL BUSINESS INNOVATION RESEARCH (SBIR) PROGRAM: TO EXPAND AND IMPROVE THE SBIR PROGRAM, TO INCREASE PRIVATE SECTOR COMMERCIALIZATION OF INNOVATIONS DERIVED FROM FEDERAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT, TO INCREASE SMALL BUSINESS PARTICIPATION IN FEDERAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT, AND TO FOSTER AND ENCOURAGE PARTICIPATION OF SOCIALLY AND ECONOMICALLY DISADVANTAGED SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS AND WOMEN-OWNED SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS IN TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION. SMALL BUSINESS TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER (STTR) PROGRAM: TO STIMULATE AND FOSTER SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION THROUGH COOPERATIVE RESEARCH DEVELOPMENT CARRIED OUT BETWEEN SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS AND RESEARCH INSTITUTIONS, TO FOSTER TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER BETWEEN SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS AND RESEARCH INSTITUTIONS, TO INCREASE PRIVATE SECTOR COMMERCIALIZATION OF INNOVATIONS DERIVED FROM FEDERAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT, AND TO FOSTER AND ENCOURAGE PARTICIPATION OF SOCIALLY AND ECONOMICALLY DISADVANTAGED SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS AND WOMEN-OWNED SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS IN TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION.

93.866 - Aging Research

National Institute on Aging (NIA) [HHS - NIH]

Chapel Hill, North Carolina 275145714 United States

Single Zip Code

Research Project Grant (Parent R01 Clinical Trial Required) (PA-20-183)

Amendment Since initial award the total obligations have increased 442% from $830,153 to $4,499,469.