Adjunctive bright light treatment with gradual advance in unipolar major depressive disorder with evening chronotype - A randomized controlled trial.
Study Goal
The researchers aimed to examine the efficacy of adjunctive bright light therapy (BLT) compared to dim red light (DRL) with a gradual timing advance protocol in improving remission rates and reducing depression severity in patients with non-seasonal unipolar depression and evening chronotype.
Results Summary
The study found that bright light therapy (BLT) resulted in a higher cumulative remission rate (67.4%) compared to dim red light (DRL) (46.7%) and a shorter time to remission. However, the abstract does not provide detailed statistical significance or effect size for DRL's efficacy.
Population
Unipolar non-seasonal depressed patients with evening chronotype (93 participants, 80% female, mean age 46.4 ± 11.7 years).
Effective Dosage
Not specified (only mentions "dim red light" without dosage details).
Duration
5 weeks of intervention, with follow-up until 5 months post-treatment.
Interactions
None mentioned
| Intervention | Direction | Endpoint | Population | Dosage | Impact | Claim # |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
adjunctive bright light therapy with gradual timing advance | increase | remission of depression | patients with non-seasonal unipolar depression and evening-chronotype | - | is an effective adjunctive treatment | #1 |
bright white light therapy | increase | remission rate | participants (unipolar non-seasonal depressed patients with concomitant evening chronotype) | 67.4% | resulted in a cumulative remission rate of | #2 |
dim red light | increase | remission rate | participants (unipolar non-seasonal depressed patients with concomitant evening chronotype) | 46.7% | resulted in a cumulative remission rate of | #3 |
bright white light therapy | decrease | time to remission | participants (unipolar non-seasonal depressed patients with concomitant evening chronotype) | - | shorter time to remission relative to the DRL group | #4 |
BACKGROUND: Unipolar non-seasonal depressed patients with concomitant evening chronotype were associated with poor clinical outcomes and higher non-remission rate. This study aims to examine the efficacy of adjunctive bright light therapy with gradual timing advance in a randomized, assessor and prescriber-blinded controlled trial. METHOD: Participants were randomly allocated to receive 5 weeks of either bright white light therapy (BLT) or dim red light (DRL) with the same advancement protocol. Participants were followed up till 5 months after treatment. Primary outcomes included (i) remission rate and (ii) the severity of depression. The analysis was conducted using Kaplan-Meier survival analysis, Cox proportional hazard analysis and linear mixed models. RESULTS: A total of 93 participants (46.4 ± 11.7 years old, 80% female) were randomized. The cumulative remission rate for the BLT and the DRL groups was 67.4% and 46.7%, respectively. Time to remission was shorter for the BLT group relative to the DRL group (log-rank test CONCLUSIONS: The use of bright light therapy with gradual advance protocol is an effective adjunctive treatment resulting in quicker and a higher rate of remission of depression in patients with non-seasonal unipolar depression and evening-chronotype.