Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39182511›Full record

Trial reportJournal of the American Medical Directors Association2024

Feasibility of a Novel Lighting System to Reduce Nighttime Falls in Assisted Living Residents With Dementia.

Sheryl Zimmerman, Philip D Sloane, John S Preisser, Kimberly Ward, Christopher J Wretman, Scott A Davis, Mariana G Figueiro

Abstract readRandomized Controlled Trial
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Trial report in Journal of the American Medical Directors Association, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Person-Centered Technology for Older Adults: Benefits, Limitations, and Considerations in Design and Use.Journal of applied gerontology : the official journal of the Southern Gerontological Society · 2026
    Article
  2. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors.

Sheryl ZimmermanThe Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA; School of Social Work, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA; Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA. Electronic address: Sheryl_Zimmerman@unc.edu.
Philip D SloaneThe Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA; Department of Family Medicine, School of Medicine, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.
John S PreisserDepartment of Biostatistics, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.
Kimberly WardDuke Clinical Research Institute, Durham, NC, USA.
Christopher J WretmanSchool of Social and Political Science, The University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom.
Scott A DavisThe Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA; Division of Pharmaceutical Outcomes and Policy, Eshelman School of Pharmacy, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.
Mariana G FigueiroLight and Health Research Center, Department of Population Health Science and Policy, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA.

Funding

Reducing Nighttime Falls in Assisted Living Residents with Alzheimer's Disease and Related DementiasR21AG059111 · NIA · UNIV OF NORTH CAROLINA CHAPEL HILL · PI ZIMMERMAN, SHERYL · 2018 to 2019
$444k
NIA NIH HHS R21 AG059111
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectivesTo determine the feasibility of conducting a trial of a novel nighttime lighting system designed to support postural stability in assisted living (AL) residents, and to estimate intervention effectiveness by comparing the incidence of nighttime falls during the novel lighting condition to that in a control condition featuring a standard nightlight.

designRandomized crossover trial. The intervention consisted of 3 custom-designed linear arrays of amber light-emitting diodes (LEDs) arranged in strips: 1 strip aligned horizontally across the top of the bathroom/entry doorframe containing 68 LEDs and 2 strips of 140 LEDs each aligned vertically down the sides of the doorframe. The control condition was 1 standard nightlight in the bedroom and 1 in the bathroom. Residents were randomized to treatment sequences, receiving each condition for 1-2 quarters. SETTING AND

participantsFive AL communities serving exclusively residents with dementia or having separate units for residents with dementia, with at least 30 beds and at least 5 residents in private rooms. Residents were eligible if they had dementia, were ambulatory, did not share a bedroom, were not on hospice or expected to die within the year, and were not expected to transfer to another setting within the year.

methodsOutcomes included recruitment, retention, incident falls, and satisfaction.

resultsThirty-eight residents of the 5 communities participated (56% recruitment rate), and 24 family members completed surveys about their satisfaction with the lighting system. Cameras captured falls data for 92% of 8591 resident nights. The incidence density for falls was 34% lower in the intervention condition than the control condition (incidence density ratio 0.66, 95% CI 0.35, 1.22), which did not reach statistical significance (P = .18). CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: This low-cost intervention was feasible with high satisfaction. Building on these results, the intervention is being evaluated in a larger clinical trial. A novel lighting system to reduce falls could ultimately benefit millions of older adults across all settings.

Indexed as

Accidental FallsAssisted Living FacilitiesCross-Over StudiesDementiaFeasibility StudiesLightingAgedAged, 80 and overFemaleHumansMaleAssisted livingfallslightingpostureresidential caretechnology

Identifiers

PMID39182511
PMCPMC11486553

What OpenQuestion holds

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Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.