Open AccessAlerting effects of light in healthy individuals: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Author(s) -
Yi-Man Mu,
Xiaodan Huang,
Shuang Zhu,
Zheng-Fang Hu,
KwokFai So,
Chaoran Ren,
Qian Tao
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
neural regeneration research/neural regeneration research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.93
H-Index - 38
eISSN - 1876-7958
pISSN - 1673-5374
DOI - 10.4103/1673-5374.335141
Subject(s) - alertness , meta analysis , medicine , confidence interval , strictly standardized mean difference , psychological intervention , subgroup analysis , psycinfo , audiology , light therapy , crossover study , clinical psychology , medline , circadian rhythm , psychiatry , alternative medicine , pathology , political science , law , placebo
Light plays an essential role in psychobiological and psychophysiological processes, such as alertness. The alerting effect is influenced by light characteristics and the timing of interventions. This meta-analysis is the first to systematically review the effect of light intervention on alertness and to discuss the optimal protocol for light intervention. In this meta-analysis, registered at PROSPERO (Registration ID: CRD42020181485), we conducted a systematic search of the Web of Science, PubMed, and PsycINFO databases for studies published in English prior to August 2021. The outcomes included both subjective and objective alertness. Subgroup analyses considered a variety of factors, such as wavelength, correlated color temperature (CCT), light illuminance, and timing of interventions (daytime, night-time, or all day). Twenty-seven crossover studies and two parallel-group studies were included in this meta-analysis, with a total of 1210 healthy participants (636 (52%) male, mean age 25.62 years). The results revealed that light intervention had a positive effect on both subjective alertness (standardized mean difference (SMD) = -0.28, 95% confidence interval (CI): -0.49 to -0.06, P = 0.01) and objective alertness in healthy subjects (SMD = -0.34, 95% CI: -0.68 to -0.01, P = 0.04). The subgroup analysis revealed that cold light was better than warm light in improving subjective alertness (SMD = -0.37, 95% CI: -0.65 to -0.10, P = 0.007, I 2 = 26%) and objective alertness (SMD = -0.36, 95% CI: -0.66 to -0.07, P = 0.02, I 2 = 0). Both daytime (SMD = -0.22, 95% CI: -0.37 to -0.07, P = 0.005, I 2 = 74%) and night-time (SMD = -0.32, 95% CI: -0.61 to -0.02, P = 0.04, I 2 = 0) light exposure improved subjective alertness. The results of this meta-analysis and systematic review indicate that light exposure is associated with significant improvement in subjective and objective alertness. In addition, light exposure with a higher CCT was more effective in improving alertness than light exposure with a lower CCT. Our results also suggest that both daytime and night-time light exposure can improve subjective alertness.