Effects on Weight Gain and Length of Hospital Stay of Day and Night-Cycled Light Exposure in Premature Infants: A Meta-Analysis.
Ciao-Lin Ho
PMID 40900134WHAT IT FOUND
In premature infants, day/night cycled light was associated with 7.52 fewer hospital days than dim or continuous bright light.
Weight gain evidence was less certain.
Key findings
01Premature infants exposed to cycled light stayed in hospital 8.11 days less than those exposed to dim light and 7.21 days less than those exposed to continuous bright light.
02Overall, cycled light was associated with 7.52 fewer hospital days than dim or continuous bright light, but the studies varied greatly.
03Weight gain evidence was mixed: the pooled comparison was borderline, and several studies did not show a significant difference.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
Only 10 studies were included, so the results need cautious interpretation. Eight of the studies had some concerns or high risk of bias, which can weaken confidence in the results. The studies varied greatly in light intensity, timing of cycled light, and how weight gain was measured. In some included studies, infants exposed to cycled light at 36 weeks postmenstrual age were counted as a dim-light group, which may have reduced the observed effect of cycled light. Weight gain data were incomplete or inconsistent, and the authors said more research is needed. A funnel plot could not be done because too few studies were included.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that cycled light reliably improves weight gain. The pooled weight gain result was borderline, and several studies did not show a significant difference.