Meta-Analysis
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2025. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Meta-Anal. Mar 18, 2025; 13(1): 99971
Published online Mar 18, 2025. doi: 10.13105/wjma.v13.i1.99971
Efficacy of bright light therapy for perinatal depression: A meta-analysis of a randomized controlled trial
Xue Yang, Yuan-Yuan Gao, Shu-Qi Xu, Jin-Cheng Wang, Yu-Jie Ma, Li-Huan Jiao, Lan Wang, Xue-Yi Wang, Shahid Bashir, Cui-Xia An, Ran Wang
Xue Yang, Yuan-Yuan Gao, Shu-Qi Xu, Jin-Cheng Wang, Yu-Jie Ma, Li-Huan Jiao, Lan Wang, Xue-Yi Wang, Cui-Xia An, Ran Wang, Mental Health Center, The First Hospital of Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang 050031, Hebei Province, China
Shahid Bashir, Neuroscience Center, King Fahad Specialist Hospital Dammam, Dammam 0096613, Saudi Arabia
Co-first authors: Xue Yang and Yuan-Yuan Gao.
Co-corresponding authors: Cui-Xia An and Ran Wang.
Author contributions: Yang X contributed to the conceptualization, data curation, formal analysis, investigation and methodology of the study and the writing of the manuscript; Yang X and Gao YY contributed to the writing the manuscript, they contributed equally to this article, they are the co-first authors of this manuscript; Gao YY, Xu SQ, Wang JC, Ma YJ, and Jiao LH contributed to the investigation of the study; Wang L and Bashir S contributed to the investigation and formal analysis of the study; Wang XY contributed to the quality and professional revision; An CX and Wang R contributed to the conceptualization and funding acquisition of the study, they contributed equally to this article, they are the co-corresponding authors of this manuscript; Wang R contributed to the revision of the manuscript; and all authors thoroughly reviewed and endorsed the final manuscript.
Supported by the Hebei Province Natural Science Foundation, No. H2018206034 and No. H2022206544; Hebei Province clinical medicine outstanding personnel training project, No. ZF2024135.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
PRISMA 2009 Checklist statement: The authors have read the PRISMA 2009 Checklist, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the PRISMA 2009 Checklist.
Open Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Ran Wang, MD, PhD, Professor, Mental Health Center, The First Hospital of Hebei Medical University, No. 89 Donggang Road, Shijiazhuang 050031, Hebei Province, China. wr104@hebmu.edu.cn
Received: August 4, 2024
Revised: December 13, 2024
Accepted: December 25, 2024
Published online: March 18, 2025
Processing time: 221 Days and 22.4 Hours
Core Tip

Core Tip: Bright light therapy represents a promising intervention for the treatment of perinatal depression, demonstrating significant efficacy and a favorable safety profile. This non-pharmacological approach is particularly well-received among pregnant and postpartum individuals, as well as their support networks, due to its lack of systemic side effects. The integration of bright light therapy into the psychiatric armamentarium for perinatal depression may enhance therapeutic flexibility and patient adherence, thereby contributing to improved mental health outcomes in this vulnerable population.