# BEHAVIOR MANAGEMENT INTERVENTIONS IN ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE

> **NIH NIH R01** · EMORY UNIVERSITY · 1992 · $114,416

## Abstract

Common behavioral problems in patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD)
include agitation, verbal and physical aggression, sleep disruption,
incontinence, wandering, repetitive actions, screaming, and inappropriate
sexual behavior.  These behaviors contribute to a diminished quality of
life for patients and caregivers, since they often require chemical or
physical restraints, accelerate the need for institutionalization,
increase the physical and emotional strains upon family members, and
increase health care utilization and costs.  Nighttime sleep disruption
and daytime agitation are among the most common and troubling of these
behaviors for AD patients who live with a caregiver in the community.
Several lines of research suggest that AD patients in both nursing homes
and in the community are exposed to far less ambient light than
age-matched controls, that sleep fragmentation is common in AD and that
sleep disruption contributes to both nighttime wakening/wandering and
daytime agitation.

Exposure to bright light during the day has been shown to entrain human
sleep/wake cycles, enhance nighttime sleep efficiency and elevate affect,
and there is preliminary evidence to suggest that bright light exposure
can reduce nighttime awakenings and even improve daytime behavior in
patients with AD. Music listening has also been reported to acutely calm
AD patients with agitation and the characteristics of this effect have
never been studied in a controlled manner.  The goal of this project is
to determine whether bright light exposure or music listening can
decrease nighttime awakenings or daytime agitation.  This project will
randomize community-dwelling AD patients with behavioral problems into
one of three groups.  One group will receive 1 hour of bright light
exposure daily for 10 days, the second group will receive 1 hour of a
music listening experience daily for 10 days.  The third group will spend
the same amount of time in the same testing room under identical
circumstances, except that they will have no specific intervention.
Primary outcome variables will include sleep quality as measured by
wrist-mounted light/activity monitors and caregiver responses on
validated scales of observed behaviors.  Caregivers and scale
administrators will be blinded to the experimental condition.

If either or both of these non-pharmacological interventions prove
effective in mediating some of the disruptive behaviors associated with
AD in this preliminary study, then a subsequent large-scale trial could
determine the optimal "dosing" parameters and conditions.  Should this
project support the efficacy of these interventions, addition of these
simple and inexpensive treatment modalities to homes and daycare centers
could offer relief from disruptive behaviors that will significantly
enhance the quality of life for victims of Alzheimer's disease and their
families.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 3123426
- **Project number:** 1R01AG011503-01
- **Recipient organization:** EMORY UNIVERSITY
- **SAM.gov UEI:** S352L5PJLMP8
- **Principal Investigator:** Robert C. Green
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 1992
- **Award amount:** $114,416
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 1992-09-30 → 1995-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/3123426

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 3123426, BEHAVIOR MANAGEMENT INTERVENTIONS IN ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE (1R01AG011503-01). Retrieved via MORVS 2026-10-25 from https://api.morvs.ai/grant/nih/3123426. Licensed CC0.

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