OCDEarly Phase 1KLTONCT06720090
Light Therapy for Obsessive-compulsive Disorder (OCD)
A Early Phase 1 study testing Light therapy in people with OCD, run by Washington University School of Medicine at 1 site in United States.
Trial summary
The goal of this clinical trial is to test whether light therapy is effective for reducing symptoms in young adults with OCD and late bedtimes (1am or later). The main question[s] it aims to answer are: Does light therapy reduce OCD symptoms? Does light therapy advance the circadian clock? If there is a comparison… Read more about this study
- Who is it for?
- Ages 17 to 35 yearsHealthy volunteers can take part
- Conditions the study is for
- OCD
- What is being tested?
- Light therapy
- Type of treatment
- Lifestyle or therapy programme
- Could I receive a placebo?
- Yes, some participants may receive a placebo
- How many people
- 40 participants
- Where
- 1 siteUnited States
- Study dates
- 16 Dec 2024to Mar 2029
- Phase
- Early Phase 1
- Are there results?
- Not yet: the study is under way
Key requirements
Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.
- Ages 17 to 35 years
- All sexes
- Healthy volunteers accepted
- Child, Adult
Who may be able to join
- Primary DSM-5 OCD diagnosis
- Bedtime 0100 or later
- Age 18-35
- English speaking
Who cannot join
- Subjects must not be currently participating in another research study that would influence their participation in our study.
- Diagnostic status
- Treatment status
- Night shift work or travel more than 1 time zone outside of Central Standard Time (CST) in the past month
- Pregnancy status
- Medication status
- Regular nicotine or marijuana use
Trial locations and contacts
1 site in 1 country. Contact the study team or a site near you to ask about taking part.
United States1 site, 1 recruiting
- Recruiting
Washington University
St Louis, Missouri, 63130
Rebecca Cox, PhD, 314-935-8111, cox.r@wustl.edu
Rebecca Cox
About this study
Official title: Light Therapy for Obsessive-compulsive Disorder: A Circadian Medicine Approach
The goal of this clinical trial is to test whether light therapy is effective for reducing symptoms in young adults with OCD and late bedtimes (1am or later). The main question[s] it aims to answer are:
Does light therapy reduce OCD symptoms? Does light therapy advance the circadian clock? If there is a comparison group: Researchers will compare a higher dose of light therapy to a lower dose to see if dose amount affects symptom reduction.
Read more
Participants will asked to:
- Wear light therapy glasses for 1 hour each morning and complete a daily light therapy log for 5 weeks
- Track their sleep every day with a wearable monitor and an electronic sleep diary for 5 weeks
- Complete a 1-time assessment of sensitivity to light exposure
- Complete self-report measures of OCD 4 times/day at baseline (2 weeks), mid-treatment (1 week), and end of treatment (1 week)
- Conditions
- OCD
- Being tested
- Light therapy
- Keywords
- ocd, sleep, light therapy, circadian, behavioral treatment
- Medical subject headings
- Compulsive Personality Disorder
What participants receive
What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.
Light therapyBehavioural
5 weeks of light therapy administered via wearable light therapy glasses worn for 1 hour each morning after awakening.
| Study group | Role | What they receive |
|---|---|---|
| Higher dose | Experimental | Participants will be given wearable light therapy devices that emit a higher light intensity. Receives: Behavioral: Light therapy |
| Lower dose | Sham comparator | Participants will be given wearable light therapy devices that emit a lower light intensity. Receives: Behavioral: Light therapy |
What is being measured
The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.
Yale Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale (YBOCS)
A retrospective clinical interview of OCD symptom severity. Score range from 0 to 40 and higher scores indicate more severe OCD symptoms.
Measured: Administered at baseline, in treatment week 3, and post-treatment (3 administrations over 7 weeks)
Daily Perseverative Thinking Questionnaire
Self-report measure of momentary transdiagnostic repetitive negative thinking. Score range from 6 to 42 and higher scores indicate more severe repetitive negative thinking.
Measured: Administered 4 times/day for 2 weeks at baseline, 4 times/day for 1 week in treatment week 3, and 4 times/day for 1 week in treatment week 5
Secondary outcomes (1)
Circadian melatonin phase
Dim light melatonin onset assessed by taking hourly saliva samples in dim light conditions for 10 hours beginning 7 hours before typical bedtime and ending 2 hours after typical bedtime.
Measured: At baseline and post-treatment (after 5 weeks of treament)
Timeline
From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.
- First posted6 Dec 2024
- Study start16 Dec 2024
- Primary completionMar 2029 (estimated)
- Study completionMar 2029 (estimated)
Resources
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govThe registry entry this page is built from, with its full change history.
- Other trials for OCDStudies of the same condition, open and under way.
- More trials run by Washington University School of MedicineThe sponsor's other registered studies.
- What the trial phases meanHow a treatment moves from first tests in people to approval.
More details
For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.
Study design
- Study type
- Interventional
- Phase
- Early Phase 1
- Primary purpose
- Treatment
- Allocation
- Randomised
- Intervention model
- Parallel groups
- Masking
- Double blind
- Who is masked
- Participant, Outcomes assessor
- Enrolment
- 40 participants (estimated)
Sponsor and investigators
- Lead sponsor
- Washington University School of Medicine
- Sponsor type
- University, hospital or other
- Responsible party
- Principal investigator, Rebecca C. Cox, Washington University School of Medicine
- Investigators
- Rebecca Cox, PhD, Principal investigator, Washington University School of Medicine
IDs, dates and publications
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT06720090
- Sponsor's protocol ID
- 202409175 -K23 MH137376
- Acronym
- KLTO
- Status last verified
- Aug 2026
- First submitted
- 21 Nov 2024
- Last updated
- 18 Aug 2026
- Results posted
- No
- Data monitoring committee
- Yes
- FDA-regulated drug
- No
- FDA-regulated device
- No
- Individual data sharing
- Yes
Study at a glance
From the registry record, last updated by the sponsor on 18 Aug 2026. Recruitment status is as the sponsor reported it: confirm with the study team.
- Official title
- Light Therapy for Obsessive-compulsive Disorder: A Circadian Medicine Approach
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT06720090
- Acronym / sponsor ID
- KLTO / 202409175 -K23 MH137376
- Conditions
- OCD
- Keywords
- ocd, sleep, light therapy, circadian, behavioral treatment
- Phase
- Early Phase 1
- Study type
- Interventional
- Recruitment status
- Recruiting
- Enrolment
- 40 participants (estimated)
- Lead sponsor
- Washington University School of MedicineUniversity, hospital or other
- Study start
- 16 Dec 2024 (actual)
- Primary completion
- Mar 2029 (estimated)
- Study completion
- Mar 2029 (estimated)
- First posted
- 6 Dec 2024 (actual)
- Results
- Not posted in the source record
Clinical summary
The research question as the sponsor registered it. This describes what the study plans to test, not what it found.
The goal of this clinical trial is to test whether light therapy is effective for reducing symptoms in young adults with OCD and late bedtimes (1am or later). The main question[s] it aims to answer are:
Does light therapy reduce OCD symptoms? Does light therapy advance the circadian clock? If there is a comparison group: Researchers will compare a higher dose of light therapy to a lower dose to see if dose amount affects symptom reduction.
Participants will asked to:
- Wear light therapy glasses for 1 hour each morning and complete a daily light therapy log for 5 weeks
- Track their sleep every day with a wearable monitor and an electronic sleep diary for 5 weeks
- Complete a 1-time assessment of sensitivity to light exposure
- Complete self-report measures of OCD 4 times/day at baseline (2 weeks), mid-treatment (1 week), and end of treatment (1 week)
Study design
- Primary purpose
- Treatment
- Allocation
- Randomised
- Intervention model
- Parallel groups
- Masking
- Double blind (participant, outcomes assessor)
- Number of arms
- 2
| Arm | Type | Receives |
|---|---|---|
| Higher dose | Experimental | Behavioral: Light therapyParticipants will be given wearable light therapy devices that emit a higher light intensity. |
| Lower dose | Sham comparator | Behavioral: Light therapyParticipants will be given wearable light therapy devices that emit a lower light intensity. |
Who may qualify
- Ages
- 17 to 35 years
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- Accepted
- Age groups
- Child, Adult
Key inclusion criteria (4 listed)
- Primary DSM-5 OCD diagnosis
- Bedtime 0100 or later
- Age 18-35
- English speaking
Key exclusion criteria (7 listed)
- Subjects must not be currently participating in another research study that would influence their participation in our study.
- Diagnostic status
- Treatment status
- Night shift work or travel more than 1 time zone outside of Central Standard Time (CST) in the past month
- Pregnancy status
Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening; this overview does not establish that a patient qualifies. Full inclusion and exclusion criteria.
Interventions
| Intervention | Type | Arms |
|---|---|---|
| Light therapy5 weeks of light therapy administered via wearable light therapy glasses worn for 1 hour each morning after awakening. | Behavioural | Higher dose, Lower dose |
Primary outcome
Yale Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale (YBOCS)
Time frame: Administered at baseline, in treatment week 3, and post-treatment (3 administrations over 7 weeks)
A retrospective clinical interview of OCD symptom severity. Score range from 0 to 40 and higher scores indicate more severe OCD symptoms.
Daily Perseverative Thinking Questionnaire
Time frame: Administered 4 times/day for 2 weeks at baseline, 4 times/day for 1 week in treatment week 3, and 4 times/day for 1 week in treatment week 5
Self-report measure of momentary transdiagnostic repetitive negative thinking. Score range from 6 to 42 and higher scores indicate more severe repetitive negative thinking.
1 secondary outcome
Circadian melatonin phase
Time frame: At baseline and post-treatment (after 5 weeks of treament)
Results and safety
This study is still under way. Results are not available in the source record yet.
Research links
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govLast updated by the sponsor 18 Aug 2026.
- Individual participant dataSharing planned: Yes
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Referral and contact
AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals. Contact the study team or a site listed below; they decide who can take part.
Rebecca Cox, PhD principal investigator
Washington University School of Medicine
1 site in 1 country: see every site and its status.
Questions about this trial
What is this clinical trial studying?
A Early Phase 1 study testing Light therapy in people with OCD, run by Washington University School of Medicine at 1 site in United States.
The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.
Who may be eligible to take part?
The sponsor lists 4 inclusion and 7 exclusion criteria. Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.
Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?
The record says: looking for participants now, as of the sponsor's last update on 18 Aug 2026. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.
Where is the study taking place?
The record lists 1 site in United States. Whether a site is taking part right now should be confirmed with that site. See every site.
What are the possible benefits and risks?
They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. Some participants in this study may receive a placebo. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.
What does this phase mean?
Early Phase 1 (sometimes called Phase 0) studies give a very small amount of a treatment to a few people, mainly to see how the body handles it.
Not every study follows the same path, and some studies (observational studies, device studies) have no phase.
Are results available for this study?
This study is still under way. Results are not available in the source record yet.
How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?
Contact Rebecca Cox, BA (314-935-8111, scraplab@wustl.edu), or a site near the patient. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.
What does the primary outcome measure?
Yale Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale (YBOCS) (time frame: Administered at baseline, in treatment week 3, and post-treatment (3 administrations over 7 weeks)). The study lists 2 primary outcomes in all. It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.
Where can I read the original study information?
Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?
No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.
How often is this information updated?
AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 18 Aug 2026.