Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation may be superior to drug therapy in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease: A systematic review and Bayesian network meta‐analysis

BACKGROUND: Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) is a noninvasive brain stimulation therapy that is primarily used to treat a variety of neuropsychiatric conditions. Recently, previous research reports stated that rTMS have the characteristics of neurorestorative in Alzheimer's disease (AD). However, the relevant clinical research evidence has not been fully summarized. METHODS: This article performed a network meta‐analysis of individual participant data from eligible studies searched in PubMed, Embase, and the Cochrane Library from inception to March 31, 2022. The drug treatments involved were acetylcholinesterase inhibitors (AChEIs), N‐methyl‐d‐aspartate (NMDA), anti‐amyloid‐beta (Aβ), and some new targeted therapeutic drugs. RESULTS: A total of 15, 548 individuals with AD disease in 57 randomized clinical trials (RCTs) were included in this meta‐analysis. The results indicated that the patients who received rTMS treatment (standard mean difference [SMD]: 0.65; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.22–1.07) had a better MMSE score than placebo. Treatment outcome analysis showed that, compared with multiple pharmacological interventions, rTMS acquired the greatest probability rank with the best cognitive improvement in MMSE score [the surface under the cumulative ranking curve (SUCRA) 93.3%] and ADAS‐cog score (SUCRA 86.7%). At the same time, rTMS treatment had the lowest rank in the adverse events (SUCRA 24.1%) except for the placebo group (SUCRA 19.1%). CONCLUSION: Compared with the current clinical drug treatment, rTMS demonstrated better cognitive function improvement and fewer adverse events in AD patients. Therefore, rTMS shows broad prospects in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease, and it is worth being widely popularized in clinic.