Light Therapy Reduces Fatigue in Patients With Cancer: Protocol for a Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

Abstract Background Fatigue is a common symptom in cancer patients that can occur throughout the course of cancer, with a prevalence ranging from 75% to 100%. Nonpharmacological intervention is currently mainly used to address cancer-related fatigue (CRF). Light therapy has been gradually used to treat CRF and has been found to be effective. However, to date, there is no systematic review on light therapies for reducing CRF to verify its effectiveness. This is a protocol for a systematic review that aims to evaluate the effectiveness of light therapies for treating fatigue in cancer survivors. This systematic review protocol was registered with the International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (PROSPERO) database. Methods This protocol was designed in accordance with the PRISMA-P guidelines. We will search the PubMed, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL; The Cochrane Library), Embase (OVID), and CINAHL databases as well as relevant sources of gray literature. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and quasi-experimental trials that have evaluated the use of light therapy among cancer patients at any survival phase, with fatigue as an outcome measure, will be included. Two members of the review team will independently extract data from the selected studies and assess their methodological quality using the Cochrane Collaboration Risk of Bias Tool. Discussion This systematic review and meta-analysis will build upon previous evaluations of light therapies in patients during and after cancer treatment. Due to the multifactorial nature of CRF and the growing demand for etiological-based intervention research, this review seeks to highlight a gap in current practice and to strengthen the evidence base of randomized controlled trials in the area. Systematic review registration CRD42020215446