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 given to three healthy elderly people in a cross-over design. They kept a daytime sleepiness test and a sleep log, and their wrist-activity was monitored simultaneously. Subjectively, BL increased daytime sleepiness and naps, and decreased night-time sleep. Triazolam decreased daytime sleepiness and naps, 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.