Effects of Photobiomodulation on Multiple Health Outcomes: An Umbrella Review of Randomized Clinical Trials

    August 2025 in “ Systematic Reviews ”
    Yejun Son, Hyeri Lee, Seungyeong Yu, Hyeon Jin Kim, Jaeyu Park, Selin Woo, Hayeon Lee, Guillaume Fond, Laurent Boyer, Masoud Rahmati, Lee Smith, Guillermo F. López Sánchez, Elena Dragioti, Jiseung Kang, Tae Kim, Dong Keon Yon
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    TLDR Photobiomodulation may improve certain health conditions, but more high-quality research is needed.
    This umbrella review analyzed 15 meta-analyses of 204 randomized controlled trials with over 9,000 participants to assess the effects of photobiomodulation (PBM) on various health outcomes. PBM showed significant effects on 12 outcomes, including improvements in burning mouth syndrome, knee osteoarthritis, fibromyalgia, androgenetic alopecia, and cognitive function, with an effect size of 1.32 for hair density in androgenetic alopecia. However, the overall certainty of evidence was low to moderate due to heterogeneity and small-study effects, highlighting the need for further high-quality trials and standardized PBM protocols before widespread clinical adoption.
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