Evidence map›Paper›PMID 31826657›Full record

SynthesisCanadian journal of psychiatry. Revue canadienne de psychiatrie2020

Light Therapy for Patients With Bipolar Depression: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.

Raymond W Lam, Minnie Y Teng, Young-Eun Jung, Vanessa C Evans, John F Gottlieb, Trisha Chakrabarty, Erin E Michalak, Jill K Murphy, Lakshmi N Yatham, Dorothy K Sit

Open access · bronzeAbstract readMeta-AnalysisSystematic Review
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Canadian journal of psychiatry. Revue canadienne de psychiatrie, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 24 papers, 6 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
24citing papers in PubMed, 6 pooled it
3.9field-weighted citation impact, top 6% of its field
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

24 citing papers in PubMed, 6 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 63 citations in OpenAlex.

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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

10 authors at 2 institutions in 3 countries.

Raymond W LamDepartment of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.ORCID 0000-0001-7142-4669
Minnie Y TengDepartment of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.
Young-Eun JungDepartment of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.
Vanessa C EvansDepartment of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.
John F GottliebDepartment of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Feinberg Faculty of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, CA, USA.
Trisha ChakrabartyDepartment of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.
Erin E MichalakDepartment of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.
Jill K MurphyDepartment of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.
Lakshmi N YathamDepartment of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.
Dorothy K SitDepartment of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Feinberg Faculty of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, CA, USA.
University of British Columbia · CANorthwestern University · US

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveBipolar disorder (BD) is challenging to treat, and fewer treatments are available for depressive episodes compared to mania. Light therapy is an evidence-based nonpharmacological treatment for seasonal and nonseasonal major depression, but fewer studies have examined its efficacy for patients with BD. Hence, we reviewed the evidence for adjunctive light therapy as a treatment for bipolar depression.

methodsWe conducted a systematic review of databases from inception to June 30, 2019, for randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trials of light therapy in patients with BD (CRD42019128996). The primary outcome was change in clinician-rated depressive symptom score; secondary outcomes included clinical response, remission, acceptability, and treatment-emergent mood switches. We quantitatively pooled outcomes using meta-analysis with random-effects models.

resultsWe identified seven trials representing 259 patients with BD. Light therapy was associated with a significant improvement in Hamilton Depression Rating Scale score (standardized mean difference = 0.43, 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.04 to 0.82,

conclusionThere is positive but nonconclusive evidence that adjunctive light therapy reduces symptoms of bipolar depression and increases clinical response. Light therapy is well tolerated with no increased risk of affective switch.

Indexed as

Bipolar DisorderMajor Depressive DisorderDouble-Blind MethodHumansPhototherapyRandomized Controlled Trials as Topicbipolar disorderdepressionlight therapymeta-analysisrandomized clinical trialssystematic review

Identifiers

PMID31826657
PMCPMC7265610
OpenAlexW2996702796

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
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.