Blue-wavelength light therapy for post-traumatic brain injury sleepiness, sleep disturbance, depression, and fatigue: a systematic review and network meta-analysis.
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OBJECTIVE: This review aimed to determine the efficacy of blue-wavelength light therapy (BWLT) for post-traumatic brain injury (TBI) sleepiness, sleep disturbance, depression, and fatigue. METHODS: Pubmed, Scopus, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, Academic Search Complete, and CINAHL. Included trials were randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of BWLT in adults with a history of TBI. Outcomes of interest included sleepiness, sleep disturbance, depression, or fatigue. Two reviewers independently screened the searched items, selected the trials, extracted the data, and rating the quality of trials. We aggregated the data using a random-effect, frequentist network meta-analysis (NMA). RESULTS: We searched the databases on July 4, 2020. This review included four RCTs of 117 patients with a history of TBI who were randomized to received BWLT, amber light therapy (ALT), or no light therapy (NLT). Moderate-quality evidence revealed that: i) BWLT was significantly superior to NLT in reducing depression (SMD = 0.81, 95% CI = 0.20 to 1.43) ii) BWLT reduced fatigue at a significantly greater extent than NLT (SMD = 1.09, 95% CI = 0.41 to 1.76) and ALT (SMD = 1.00, 95% CI = 0.14 to 1.86). Low-quality evidence suggested that BWLT reduced depression at a greater extent than ALT (SMD = 0.57, 95% CI = 0.04 to 1.10). Low-quality evidence found that the dropout rates of those receiving BWLT and ALT were not significantly different (RR = 3.72, 95% CI = 0.65 to 21.34). CONCLUSION: Moderate-quality evidence suggests that BWLT may be useful for post-TBI depression and fatigue.
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Blue light has the characteristic of short wavelength and high energy, giving it a distinct advantage over other wavelengths of light in the treatment of depression.
“Blue light has the characteristic of short wavelength and high energy, which gives it a distinct advantage over other wavelengths of light in the treatment of depression.[15]”
From Effectiveness of visible light for seasonal affective disorder: A systematic review and network meta-analysis (2025) · cites this paper as [15]
The Introduction describes blue light as short-wavelength and high-energy, but says this would *imply* a preference for treating depression rather than establishing a general advantage. The Results report that blue-wavelength light therapy was superior to two comparators for post-TBI depression; they do not establish an advantage for depression generally. (LLM, conf=0.86)
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- Authors
- Srisurapanont, K., Samakarn, Y., Kamklong, B., Siratrairat, P., Bumiputra, A., Jaikwang, M., & Srisurapanont, M.
- Affiliations
- Chiang Mai University (TH)
- Corresponding author
- Srisurapanont, Manit
- Venue
- PLOS ONE
- Publisher
- Public Library of Science (PLoS)
- Published
- 2021-02-04
- Volume
- 16
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- e0246172
- ISSN
- 1932-6203 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC7861530
- OpenAlex
- W3126414992
- Cited by
- 25
- References
- 43
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 5 · 2022: 8 · 2021: 4
- FWCI
- 0.69
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- PLoS ONE (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Greater South Information System
- Funders
- Chiang Mai University (16/2563)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Epidemiology › Traumatic Brain Injury Research
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Sleep and related disorders
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Neurology › Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Studies
- Keywords
- low-level laser therapy, traumatic brain injury, sleepiness, sleep disorders, depression, fatigue
- MeSH terms
- Brain Injuries, Traumatic, Network Meta-Analysis, Sleepiness, Depression, Fatigue, Humans, Phototherapy, Sleep Wake Disorders, Treatment Outcome
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