Bright light treatment for night-time insomnia and daytime sleepiness in elderly people: Comparison with a short-acting hypnotic

Night-time bright light (BL) treatment and triazolam (0.125 mg/day) were gi ven to three healthy elderly people in a cross-over design. They kept a day time sleepiness test and a sleep log, and their wrist-activity was monitore d simultaneously. Subjectively, BL increased daytime sleepiness and naps, a nd decreased night-time sleep. Triazolam decreased daytime sleepiness and n aps, and increased night-time sleep. Actigraphic night-time sleep and naps on the first day were similar to these results. However, on the fourth day night-time insomnia induced by BL had recovered, and naps were shorter than the baseline. Triazolam increased actigraphic naps as the days passed.