Effectiveness of bright light therapy in patients suffering from unipolar or bipolar depression; A naturalistic study

IF 2.5 4区医学 Q2 PSYCHIATRY European Journal of Psychiatry Pub Date : 2025-01-24 DOI:10.1016/j.ejpsy.2025.100294

M.A. Riedinger , G.E. van Son , N.J.A. van der Wee , E.J. Giltay , M. de Leeuw

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Background and objectives

Depressive disorders, both unipolar (MDD) and bipolar (BD), impact patients and society greatly. In bipolar depression and seasonal affective disorder the episodic nature and periodicity relate to changes in circadian rhythms. Bright light therapy (BLT) is thought to ameliorate symptoms of depression through its influence on circadian rhythms. Effectiveness of BLT has not been thoroughly established in real-world clinical samples.

Methods

For seventy-four patients with depression Inventory of Depressive Symptoms – Self Rated (IDS-SR) scores were available through Routine Outcome Monitoring (ROM) used in BLT in the outpatient clinic for mood disorders. Patients received one or two weeks of add-on BLT as usual care. Patients suffering from MDD (n = 33, 60.6 % female, mean age 36.1 ± 11.5 years) were compared to patients suffering from BD (n = 41, 70.7 % female, mean age 45.0 ± 14.5 years) and changes in individual symptoms were analyzed for these two groups as well as the whole cohort.

Results

IDS-SR scores decreased significantly in both groups of patients and did not differ in effect size between the groups. Explorative analyses of the effects on individual items of the IDS-SR showed that items related to core symptoms of depression such a as mood, concentration and energy level showed the largest improvements.

Conclusion

Self-report depressive symptoms in patients suffering from either MDD or BD decreased in this naturalistic cohort after receiving BLT.

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来源期刊

European Journal of Psychiatry PSYCHIATRY-

CiteScore

2.90

自引率

0.00%

发文量

审稿时长

43 days

期刊介绍： The European journal of psychiatry is a quarterly publication founded in 1986 and directed by Professor Seva until his death in 2004. It was originally intended to report “the scientific activity of European psychiatrists” and “to bring about a greater degree of communication” among them. However, “since scientific knowledge has no geographical or cultural boundaries, is open to contributions from all over the world”. These principles are maintained in the new stage of the journal, now expanded with the help of an American editor.