Effect of Home-based Self-administered Transcranial Direct Stimulation in Patients with Mild to Moderate Major Depressive Disorder: A Single-arm, Multicentral Trial

OBJECTIVE: Although the effects and safety of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) treatment in depressive patients are largely investigated, whether the self-administration of tDCS treatment at patient’s home is comparable to clinic-based treatment is still unknown. METHODS: In this single-arm, multi-center clinical trial, 61 patients with mild to moderate major depressive disorder were enrolled. tDCS treatment was delivered at the patient’s home once a day, 5 to 7 times a week for 6 weeks, and each session lasted for 30 minutes. The primary outcome was a total Beck-Depression Inventory-II score, and no concurrent antidepressants were used. RESULTS: The remission rates in both Full-Analysis (FA) (n = 61) and Per-Protocol (PP) (n = 43) groups were statistically significant (FA 57.4% [0.44−0.70], PP 62.8% [0.47−0.77]; percent [95% confidence interval]). The degree of depression-related symptoms was also significantly improved in 2, 4, and 6 weeks after the treatment when compared with baseline. There was no significant association between treatment compliance and remission rate in both FA and PP groups. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that acute treatment of patient-administered tDCS might be effective in improving the subjective feeling of depressive symptoms in mild to moderate major depressive disorder patients.