Blue blocking glasses worn at night in first year higher education students with sleep complaints: a feasibility study.

Background: Late adolescence and early adulthood is a period of highest incidence for onset of mental health problems. Transition to college environment has been associated with many risk factors such as the initial disruption-and subsequent irregularity-of the student's sleep and activity schedule. We tested the feasibility of using blue blocking glasses (BBG) at night in first year higher education students with sleep complaints, to obtain preliminary evidence for the impact of BBG on sleep, activity, and mood.
Methods: Participants were 13 first year undergraduates (from 10 different academic courses) living on campus for the first time with sleep complaints/disorders confirmed at screening via the Duke Structured Interview Schedule for Sleep Disorders. We used a 2-week, balanced crossover design (BBG vs placebo glasses; participants were unaware which was the active intervention) with computer-generated random allocation. Exploratory analyses provided descriptive and frequency summaries to evaluate feasibility of the intervention.
Results: Preliminary evidence supports the feasibility and acceptability of the trial; almost all screened participants consented and completed the protocol with high adherence; missing data were negligible. Additionally, the effectiveness of BBGs to enhance sleep, mood, and activity levels in young adults was supported.
Conclusions: The results of this feasibility trial suggest that BBG have potential as an inexpensive and feasible intervention for reducing sleep and circadian dysregulation in young adult students. A larger trial, following this successfully implemented protocol, is necessary to fully test the efficacy of BBG.
Competing Interests: The Faculty of Health and Medicine Research Ethics Committee (FHMREC), Lancaster University, approved the research protocol (UREC Reference: S2014/106). Consent to participate was obtained from participants.Not applicable.Drs. GPA, AVM, SJ and FL have no conflicts of interest to disclose. EAY has consulted with Joe Startup Technologies, Janssen, Lundbeck, Otsuka, Western Psychological Services, and Pearson. BD has a licensing agreement with Lundbeck for the use of a psychosocial treatment manual for depression.Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.