ArticleNeuropsychiatric disease and treatment2018
Efficacy of light therapy on nonseasonal depression among elderly adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Article in Neuropsychiatric disease and treatment, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 15 papers, 3 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
15 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 36 citations in OpenAlex.
- Ocular light exposure interventions for sleep, circadian rhythms, rest-activity cycles, mood, and cognitive function in older adults: An Overview of Cochrane and non-Cochrane Systematic Reviews.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2025Pooled it
- Non-pharmacological Approaches to Depressed Elderly With No or Mild Cognitive Impairment in Long-Term Care Facilities. A Systematic Review of the Literature.Frontiers in public health · 2021Pooled it
- Efficacy and safety of bright light therapy for manic and depressive symptoms in patients with bipolar disorder: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Psychiatry and clinical neurosciences · 2020Pooled it
- Light therapy in medicine: where do we stand?Annals of translational medicine · 2026Review
- The Use of Phototherapy for the Treatment of Non-Seasonal Depression: A Systematic Review of Efficacy and Safety.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Review
- Behavioural determinants of physiologically-relevant light exposure.Communications psychology · 2024Review
- Light Therapy for Older People with Depressive Symptoms: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Journal of clinical medicine · 2024Review
- Unfavorable Mealtime, Meal Skipping, and Shiftwork Are Associated with Circadian Syndrome in Adults Participating in NHANES 2005-2016.Nutrients · 2024Article
- Protocol for a co-design study for the development of a chronotherapeutic mobile health behaviour change intervention targeting light exposure among older adults.F1000Research · 2024Article
- Role of adjunctive nonpharmacological strategies for treatment of rapid-cycling bipolar disorder.World journal of psychiatry · 2023Review
- Morning blue light treatment improves sleep complaints, symptom severity, and retention of fear extinction memory in post-traumatic stress disorder.Frontiers in behavioral neuroscience · 2022Article
- Effects of illuminance and correlated color temperature of indoor light on emotion perception.Scientific reports · 2021Article
- Neighborhood farm density, types of agriculture, and depressive symptoms among older farmers: a cross-sectional study.BMC public health · 2021Article
- Pilot Study of the Effects of Bright Ambient Therapy on Dementia Symptoms and Cognitive Function.Frontiers in psychology · 2021Article
- Research progress on the neural mechanism of light therapy improving cognitive function in depression: from retinal projections to neuroplasticity.Frontiers in neurologyReview
Corrections and comments
- Erratum issued
Authors and funding
4 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveThe aim of this study was to examine the effectiveness of light therapy in the treatment of geriatric depression.
methodsA systematic review and meta-analysis were carried out. Data sources for the literature search were PubMed, Cochrane Collaboration's Central Register of Controlled Clinical Trials, Cochrane Systematic Reviews, and ClinicalTrials.gov. Controlled trials of light therapy on older patients with nonseasonal depression and depression rating scales were eligible. Studies were pooled using a random-effect model for comparisons with light therapy. We used effect size (ES), which expresses changes in depression severity, in each selected meta-analysis to calculate the standardized mean difference on the basis of Hedges' adjusted g; positive values indicated that the depression severity improved after light therapy. All results were presented with 95% CIs. Statistical heterogeneity was explored through visual inspection of funnel plots and the I2 statistic. Moderators of effects were explored using meta-regression.
resultsWe identified eight trials involving 395 participants that met the inclusion criteria. Light therapy was significantly more effective than comparative treatments, including placebo or dim light, with an ES of 0.422 (95% CI: 0.174-0.709,
conclusionOur results highlighted the significant efficacy of light therapy in the treatment of geriatric depression. Additional well-designed, controlled studies are necessary to adopt standard parameters, adequate group sizes, and randomized assignment to evaluate more thoroughly the efficacy of light therapy for treating geriatric depression.
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.