Ten-hour phototherapy showed a similar average fall, not equivalence

In 74 low-risk term neonates, a 10-hour schedule did not show a statistically significant difference in average 24-hour bilirubin decline, but bilirubin at 24 hours was 24 micromol/L higher and the trial was not designed for equivalence or outpatient safety.

The hot take

A nonsignificant P value in a 74-infant superiority trial is not an equivalence result.

A single-center randomized trial in Malaysia compared 10 hours of LED phototherapy followed by 14 hours off with 24 hours of continuous treatment. The average hourly bilirubin fall did not differ significantly, but the groups started from different baselines, the 10-hour group ended higher at hour 24, and the trial was too small and too selective to settle safety.

What the trial actually tested