Efficacy of EWINDOW for prevention of delirium at intensive care units: A protocol for systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: Critically ill patients in intensive care units (ICUs) have restricted exposure to natural light throughout the day. As a result, they are more prone to undergo disruptions in circadian rhythmicity and sleep patterns, which may contribute to the development of delirium. As a measure to synchronize to the patterns of natural sunlight, EWINDOW has been proved to prevent delirium in some studies. Hence, the aim of this systematic review to evaluate the effectiveness of EWINDOW so as to prevent delirium. METHODS: From January 2012 to December 2021, electronic databases such as China National Knowledge Infrastructure Database, Excerpta Medica database, PubMed, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Wan Fang, and Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Health Literature are aimed to look for appropriate randomized controlled trials to evaluate the therapeutic impact of EWINDOW on delirium prevention. To be more exact, related studies are chosen, data is retrieved and the risk of bias is examined, then a meta-analysis is carried out in order. RESULTS: The goal of this study is to show how effective EWINDOW is at preventing delirium in ICU. The incidence and duration of delirium are included in our outcome measures. CONCLUSIONS: This review evaluates related studies on the therapeutic effects of EWINDOW on the prevention of delirium in the ICUs. DISSEMINATION AND ETHICS: The findings of this study will be published in a peer-reviewed journal. As the study relies on publicly available data, no ethical approval is required. Furthermore, throughout the data analysis procedure, anonymity is protected. OSF Registration: https://osf.io/NP3EW/