Faculty, Staff and Student Publications
Publication Date
6-1-2025
Journal
Journal of Psychiatric Research
DOI
10.1016/j.jpsychires.2025.03.047
PMID
40209536
Abstract
Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is a potential home-based treatment for major depressive disorder (MDD). In our double-blind randomised controlled trial (RCT) (n = 174; UK and USA), a 10-week course of home-based tDCS demonstrated clinical efficacy (clinical response: 58.3 % active treatment arm and 37.8 % sham (p = 0.017). tDCS was delivered in a bifrontal montage, with anode over left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and cathode over right DLPFC. Each session was 30 min, with active stimulation at 2 mA and sham at 0 mA, incorporating brief ramp-up and ramp-down phased. Following the 10-week RCT, all participants were offered active tDCS in a 10-week open-label treatment phase, with 111 participants completing this phase. UK cohort (n = 77 MDD) were invited for additional 3-month and 6-month follow-ups, extending the total study period to 11 months post-randomisation. Participants were able to continue using the tDCS device during follow-up. At least one follow-up visit was attended by 42 MDD participants (27 women). Device usage rates were 59 % at 3-month follow-up and 55 % at 6-month follow-up. Clinical response rate was 64 % at 3-month follow-up and 76 % at 6-month follow-up. Among participants who had shown a clinical response after the open-label phase, 90 % maintained their response at the 6-month follow-up. In summary, long-term follow-up showed high and sustained clinical response rates regardless of continued tDCS device use.
Keywords
Adult, Female, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Young Adult, Depressive Disorder, Major, Double-Blind Method, Follow-Up Studies, Psychiatric Status Rating Scales, Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation, Treatment Outcome, United Kingdom, Long term outcome, Major depression, Neuromodulation, Non-invasive, Transcranial direct current stimulation
Published Open-Access
yes
Recommended Citation
Woodham, Rachel D; Selvaraj, Sudhakar; Lajmi, Nahed; et al., "Home-Based Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation for Major Depressive Disorder: 6-Month Follow-Up From Randomised Sham-Controlled Trial and Open-Label Treatment Phases" (2025). Faculty, Staff and Student Publications. 5021.
https://digitalcommons.library.tmc.edu/uthgsbs_docs/5021
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