SynthesisBrain and behavior2023
The effects of light therapy on depression and sleep in women during pregnancy or the postpartum period: A systematic review and meta-analysis.
Synthesis in Brain and behavior, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers, 4 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
8 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 12 citations in OpenAlex.
- Effectiveness of nonpharmacological sleep interventions in pregnancy: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Journal of clinical sleep medicine : JCSM : official publication of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine · 2025Pooled it
- Canadian Network for Mood and Anxiety Treatments 2024 Clinical Practice Guideline for the Management of Perinatal Mood, Anxiety, and Related Disorders: Guide de pratique 2024 du Canadian Network for Mood and Anxiety Treatments pour le traitement des troubles de l'humeur, des troubles anxieux et des troubles connexes périnatals.Canadian journal of psychiatry. Revue canadienne de psychiatrie · 2025Guideline
- Effect of Bright Light Therapy on Perinatal Depression: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis: Effet de la luminothérapie sur la dépression périnatale: une revue systématique et une méta-analyse.Canadian journal of psychiatry. Revue canadienne de psychiatrie · 2024Pooled it
- The effects of light therapy on depression and sleep in women during pregnancy or the postpartum period: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Brain and behavior · 2023Pooled it
- The effect of bright light therapy on sleep in pregnant women with major depressive disorder- a randomized controlled trial.Archives of women's mental health · 2025Trial
- Translating Evidence into Obstetric Care: Developing a Best Practice-Informed Stepped-Care Clinical Algorithm for the Management of Gestational Insomnia.Nature and science of sleep · 2026Article
- Non-pharmacological Radical Methods for Treating Postpartum Depression Around the Globe: A Narrative Review.Cureus · 2024Review
- Understanding and Addressing Male Postpartum Depression: Incidence, Causes, Diagnosis, and Management Strategies.Medical science monitor : international medical journal of experimental and clinical research · 2024Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundIn recent years, light therapy has been tried for the treatment of depression and sleep in pregnancy or postnatal period women, but the results have been inconclusive. This meta-analysis is the first to systematically review the effects of light therapy on depression and sleep disturbances in women during pregnancy and the postnatal period.
methodsWe searched for randomized controlled studies in PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure, and Chinese Biomedical Database up to January 2023. The standardized mean difference (SMD) was used to assess the efficacy of the outcome indicators.
resultsEight studies were eventually included in the analysis. The results showed that light therapy was more effective than the placebo group in terms of depression (SMD = .34, CI = .08-.61) and sleep (SMD = .64,95%CI = .28-1.00). Subgroup analysis could not explain the significant heterogeneity. There were no serious adverse effects in either the light therapy or placebo groups.
conclusionsLight therapy could be considered an effective treatment for depression and sleep disturbances in women during pregnancy and the postnatal period. However, future high-quality trials with larger sample sizes are still needed.
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.