BACKGROUND

Non-visual retinal effects have been increasingly confirmed in the development of Parkinson's disease (PD). Phototherapy (LT) has been proven to be an effective non-pharmacological therapy for improving the prognosis of PD, but its mechanism of action is unclear and there is a lack of a uniform and standardized LT regimen. We aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of different LT measures in improving motor and non-motor symptoms in patients with idiopathic PD through a meta-analysis.

MATERIAL AND METHODS CENTRAL, EMBASE, CINAHL,

PEDro and PubMed were searched for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) investigating the efficacy of LT for PD. The Cochrane Risk of bias tool and the GRADE approach were used to assess the quality of the evidence. A meta-analysis and subgroup analyses evaluated the differences in efficacy produced by the different LT protocols. Trial sequential analysis (TSA) verified the outcome of the analysis and quantified the statistical significance of the data. [color=#0e101a] [/color]

RESULTS

Patients who received LT had significantly improved motor function scores (MD=-4.68, 95% Cl –8.25 to -1.12, P=0.01) compared to the control group exposed to dim red light. In addition, in terms of non-motor symptoms, depression (SMD=-0.27, 95% Cl -0.52 to -0.02, P=0.04) and sleep disorder-related scores (MD=3.45, 95% Cl 0.12 to 6.78, P = 0.04) showed similarly significant optimization after receiving LT.

CONCLUSIONS

The results of this meta-analysis provide strong evidence that LT has significant efficacy on motor and non-motor function in PD patients.