SynthesisCanadian journal of psychiatry. Revue canadienne de psychiatrie2022
Blue-Light Therapy for Seasonal and Non-Seasonal Depression: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.
Synthesis in Canadian journal of psychiatry. Revue canadienne de psychiatrie, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 20 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
20 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Effectiveness of visible light for seasonal affective disorder: A systematic review and network meta-analysis.Medicine · 2025Pooled it
- The effect of light therapy on insomnia: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Sleep & breathing = Schlaf & Atmung · 2024Pooled it
- Circadian light therapy and light dose for depressed young people: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in public health · 2023Pooled it
- Trial
- Effects of phototherapy on biopterin, neopterin, tryptophan, and behavioral neuroinflammatory reaction in patients with post-stroke depression.Scientific reports · 2024Trial
- Article
- Light therapy for bipolar disorders: Clinical recommendations from the international society for bipolar disorders (ISBD) Chronobiology and Chronotherapy Task Force.Dialogues in clinical neuroscience · 2025Review
- Blue light treatment of psychiatric disorders: relationships with systemic inflammation, lipid metabolism, and clinical symptoms.BMC psychiatry · 2025Article
- Review
- The Use of Phototherapy for the Treatment of Non-Seasonal Depression: A Systematic Review of Efficacy and Safety.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Review
- Role of Sleep in Depressive Disorders and the Potential Therapeutic Role of Short-Term Sleep Deprivation and Light Therapy: A Review.Medical science monitor : international medical journal of experimental and clinical research · 2024Review
- 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
- LED-emitted blue light improves quality of life and reduces fatigue after COVID-19 infection.Postepy dermatologii i alergologii · 2024Article
- The Role of Water-Soluble Vitamins and Vitamin D in Prevention and Treatment of Depression and Seasonal Affective Disorder in Adults.Nutrients · 2024Review
- Light Pollution and Oxidative Stress: Effects on Retina and Human Health.Antioxidants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Review
- The Influence of Light Wavelength on Human HPA Axis Rhythms: A Systematic Review.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Review
- Light as a Modulator of Non-Image-Forming Brain Functions-Positive and Negative Impacts of Increasing Light Availability.Clocks & sleep · 2023Review
- 35 years of light treatment for mental disorders in the Netherlands.Annals of medicine · 2023Review
- Effects of Ambient Illuminance on Explicit and Implicit Altruism: The Mediation Roles of Perceived Anonymity and Satisfaction with Light.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesTo determine the efficacy and safety of blue-light therapy in seasonal and non-seasonal major depressive disorder (MDD), by comparison to active and inactive control conditions.
methodsWe searched Web of Science, EMBASE, Medline, PsycInfo, and Clinicaltrials.gov through January 17, 2022, for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) using search terms for blue/blue-enhanced, light therapy, and depression/seasonal affective disorder. Two independent reviewers extracted data. The primary outcome was the difference in endpoint scores on the Structured Interview Guide for the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale - Seasonal Affective Disorder (SIGH-SAD) or the Structured Interview Guide for the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale with Atypical Depression Supplement (SIGH-ADS) between blue light and comparison conditions. Secondary outcomes were response (≥ 50% improvement from baseline to endpoint on a depression scale) and remission rates (endpoint score in the remission range).
resultsOf 582 articles retrieved, we included nine RCTs (
conclusionsThe efficacy of blue-light therapy in the treatment of seasonal and non-seasonal MDD remains unproven. Future trials should be of longer duration, include larger sample sizes, and attempt to better standardize the parameters of light therapy.
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.