Bright light treatment of depressive symptoms in patients with restrictive type of anorexia nervosa.

BACKGROUND

Light therapy refers to two different categories of treatment. One of them is used in common medical practice and the other in complementary medicine. The aim of the study was to assess the effect of short time (6 weeks) bright light treatment (BLT) on depressive symptoms in female patients with the restrictive type of anorexia nervosa (AN-R).

METHODS

Twenty-four girls, aged 15-20 (mean 17.4±1) years, diagnosed as AN-R, with concomitant depressive symptoms ≥17 points on the 21-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS) were studied. All girls received cognitive behavioral therapy. Among them, twelve were randomly assigned to additional treatment with BLT for 6 weeks (10,000 lux, 30 min daily). Both groups did not differ on baseline demographic and clinical parameters. The assessments of depression by means of HDRS and measuring of body mass index (BMI) were done weekly throughout the treatment.

RESULTS

Improvement of depression was significantly greater in the group receiving BLT, with a significant difference between groups in depression intensity after 5 and 6 weeks. There was no difference in the increase of BMI between groups after 6 weeks, although such increase started earlier in patients treated with BLT.

LIMITATIONS: Six weeks of treatment may be an insufficient duration to draw the conclusion about the efficacy of BLT and a follow-up is needed to assess the maintenance of the effect.

CONCLUSIONS

The results obtained may suggest that BLT could be an effective non-pharmacological modality for the treatment of depression in patients with AN-R.