Trial reportInternational psychogeriatrics2019
DREAMS-START (Dementia RElAted Manual for Sleep; STrAtegies for RelaTives) for people with dementia and sleep disturbances: a single-blind feasibility and acceptability randomized controlled trial.
Trial report in International psychogeriatrics, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 33 papers, 8 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
33 citing papers in PubMed, 8 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 51 citations in OpenAlex.
- Nonpharmacological interventions to improve the sleep of informal caregivers of people with dementia: a systematic review and meta-analysis.The Gerontologist · 2026Pooled it
- Summary of best evidence for non-pharmacological management of sleep disturbances in patients with mild cognitive impairment or early dementia: an integrative review.Frontiers in medicine · 2026Pooled it
- Systematic review of the efficacy of pharmacological and non-pharmacological interventions for improving quality of life of people with dementia.The British journal of psychiatry : the journal of mental science · 2026Pooled it
- Pharmacological and Non-Pharmacological Interventions to Improve Sleep in People with Cognitive Impairment: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2025Pooled it
- Participatory research with carers: A systematic review and narrative synthesis.Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy · 2024Pooled it
- Non-pharmacological interventions for sleep disturbances in people with dementia.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2023Pooled it
- The effect of light therapy on sleep disorders and psychobehavioral symptoms in patients with Alzheimer's disease: A meta-analysis.PloS one · 2023Pooled it
- Pooled it
- The DREAMS START intervention for sleep in dementia: Long-term follow-up of a randomized controlled trial.Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · 2026Trial
- Long-term health conditions and their impact on people with sleep disturbances and dementia.BMC geriatrics · 2025Trial
- Trial
- Effects of Tai Chi on physical performance, sleep, and quality of life in older adults with mild to moderate cognitive impairment.BMC complementary medicine and therapies · 2024Trial
- Trial
- A psychosocial goal-setting and manualised support intervention for independence in dementia (NIDUS-Family) versus goal setting and routine care: a single-masked, phase 3, superiority, randomised controlled trial.The lancet. Healthy longevity · 2024Trial
- TaIlored ManagEment of Sleep (TIMES) for people with dementia and mild cognitive impairment in primary care in England: protocol for a feasibility cluster-randomised controlled trial.Pilot and feasibility studies · 2026Article
- Review
- The clinical and cost-effectiveness of improving sleep via carer delivered strategies in people with dementia: the DREAMS START parallel multi-centre RCT.Health technology assessment (Winchester, England) · 2026Article
- Sleep Quality of Persons with Dementia and Family Caregivers in Korean Americans: Wearable Technology to Study the Dyadic Association.Western journal of nursing research · 2025Observational
- Light Therapy for Older People with Depressive Symptoms: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Journal of clinical medicine · 2024Review
- What works to support carers of older people and older carers? an international evidence map of interventions and outcomes.BMC geriatrics · 2024Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
11 authors at 4 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
Abstract
ABSTRACTBackground:40% of people with dementia have disturbed sleep but there are currently no known effective treatments. Studies of sleep hygiene and light therapy have not been powered to indicate feasibility and acceptability and have shown 40-50% retention. We tested the feasibility and acceptability of a six-session manualized evidence-based non-pharmacological therapy; Dementia RElAted Manual for Sleep; STrAtegies for RelaTives (DREAMS-START) for sleep disturbance in people with dementia.
methodsWe conducted a parallel, two-armed, single-blind randomized trial and randomized 2:1 to intervention: Treatment as Usual. Eligible participants had dementia and sleep disturbances (scoring ≥4 on one Sleep Disorders Inventory item) and a family carer and were recruited from two London memory services and Join Dementia Research. Participants wore an actiwatch for two weeks pre-randomization. Trained, clinically supervised psychology graduates delivered DREAMS-START to carers randomized to intervention; covering Understanding sleep and dementia; Making a plan (incorporating actiwatch information, light exposure using a light box); Daytime activity and routine; Difficult night-time behaviors; Taking care of your own (carer's) sleep; and What works? Strategies for the future. Carers kept their manual, light box, and relaxation recordings post-intervention. Outcome assessment was masked to allocation. The co-primary outcomes were feasibility (≥50% eligible people consenting to the study) and acceptability (≥75% of intervention group attending ≥4 intervention sessions).
resultsIn total, 63out of 95 (66%; 95% CI: 56-76%) eligible referrals consented between 04/08/2016 and 24/03/2017; 62 (65%; 95% CI: 55-75%) were randomized, and 37 out of 42 (88%; 95% CI: 75-96%) adhered to the intervention.
conclusionsDREAM-START for sleep disorders in dementia is feasible and acceptable.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.