Light therapy for seasonal affective disorder in primary care: Randomised controlled trial
Open accessAbstract
Background: Studies of light therapy have not been conducted previously in primary care. Aims: To evaluate light therapy in primary care. Method: Fifty-seven participants with seasonal affective disorder were randomly allocated to 4 weeks of bright white or dim red light. Baseline expectations for treatment were assessed. Outcome was assessed with the Structured Interview Guide for the Hamilton Depression Scale, Seasonal Affective Disorder Version. Results: Both groups showed decreases in symptom scores of more than 40%. There were no differences in proportions of responders in either group, regardless of the remission criteria applied, with around 60% (74% white light, 57% red light) meeting broad criteria for response and 31% (30% white light, 33% red light) meeting strict criteria. There were no differences in treatment expectations. Conclusions: Primary care patients with seasonal affective disorder improve after light therapy, but bright white light is not associated with greater improvements.
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Except for one study with nonrandomized subjects, all other included studies completed the randomization process.
“Except for 1 study that existed nonrandomized subjects,[39] all other studies completed the randomization process.”
From Effectiveness of visible light for seasonal affective disorder: A systematic review and network meta-analysis (2025) · cites this paper as [39]
Eleven included studies accomplished double-blinding for both patients and raters, avoiding performance bias and detection bias.
“Eleven studies accomplished the double-blind procedure for both patients and raters, effectively avoiding performance bias and detection bias.[23,25–27,29,32,35,36,38–40]”
From Effectiveness of visible light for seasonal affective disorder: A systematic review and network meta-analysis (2025) · cites this paper as [39]
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- Authors
- Wileman, S. M., Eagles, J. M., Andrew, J. E., Howie, F. L., Cameron, I. M., McCormack, K., & Naji, S. A.
- Affiliations
- University of Aberdeen (GB)
- Royal Cornhill Hospital (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Naji, Simon A.
- Venue
- British Journal of Psychiatry
- Publisher
- Royal College of Psychiatrists
- Published
- 2001-04
- Volume
- 178
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 311-316
- ISSN
- 0007-1250 (ISSN-L)
- 1472-1465
- OpenAlex
- W1483228651
- Cited by
- 51
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2025: 3 · 2024: 1 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 1 · 2020: 1 · 2019: 1 · 2018: 1 · 2017: 2 · 2015: 4 · 2014: 3 · 2013: 3
- FWCI
- 1.64
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- The British Journal of Psychiatry (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Endocrine and Autonomic Systems › Circadian rhythm and melatonin
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Pharmacology › Treatment of Major Depression
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychotherapy Techniques and Applications
- Keywords
- phototherapy, seasonal affective disorder, dim red light, primary care, treatment response, treatment expectations
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adult, Affect, Female, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Phototherapy, Primary Health Care, Psychiatric Status Rating Scales, Color Therapy, Seasonal Affective Disorder, Treatment Outcome
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