Effects on Weight Gain and Length of Hospital Stay of Day and Night-Cycled Light Exposure in Premature Infants: A Meta-Analysis
Abstract
Background: Continuous bright light (CBL) and dim light (DL) exposure in premature babies may adversely affect their physiological and vision development and interfere with parental sleep and quality of life.
Purpose: This systematic review and meta-analysis were conducted to investigate the effects of day/night cycled light (CL) exposure on weight gain and length of hospital stay (LOS) in premature infants.
Methods: MEDLINE, PsycINFO, PubMed, CINAHL, Cochrane, Airiti Library, and Google Scholar were searched using appropriate keywords for relevant English or Chinese articles published before April 7, 2023. Study quality was evaluated using RevMan software (version 5.4) and the Cochrane risk-of-bias assessment tool (version 2.0). The cohort was divided into two groups based on the light exposure cycle studied, namely the intervention (CL) and control (CBL and DL) groups.
Results: Ten studies were included in the meta-analysis, with the results revealing LOS was, respectively, 8.11 days (95% confidence interval [CI]=[-14.76, -1.46]; p =.02) and 7.21 days (95% CI=[-13.82, -0.60]; p =.03) less in the CL group than in the DL and CBL groups. Thus, the CL group recorded a total reduction of 7.52 days in LOS (95% CI=[-12.87, -2.17]; p =.006). Also, the standardized mean difference in weight gain between the CL and DL/CBL groups was 0.62 (95% CI=[0.00, 1.24]; p =.05).
Conclusion/implications for practice: The findings indicate that premature infants exposed to CL experience…
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