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Home-based transcranial direct current stimulation in dual active treatments for symptoms of depression and anxiety: A case series

Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is a potential treatment strategy across some psychiatric conditions. However, there is high heterogeneity in tDCS efficacy as a stand-alone treatment. To increase its therapeutic potential, researchers have begun to explore the efficacy of combining tD...

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Autores principales: Sobral, Mónica, Guiomar, Raquel, Martins, Vera, Ganho-Ávila, Ana
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Frontiers Media S.A. 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9583668/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36276322
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2022.947435
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author Sobral, Mónica
Guiomar, Raquel
Martins, Vera
Ganho-Ávila, Ana
author_facet Sobral, Mónica
Guiomar, Raquel
Martins, Vera
Ganho-Ávila, Ana
author_sort Sobral, Mónica
collection PubMed
description Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is a potential treatment strategy across some psychiatric conditions. However, there is high heterogeneity in tDCS efficacy as a stand-alone treatment. To increase its therapeutic potential, researchers have begun to explore the efficacy of combining tDCS with psychological and pharmacological interventions. The current case series details the effect of 6–10 weeks of self-administered tDCS paired with a behavioral therapy smartphone app (Flow™), on depressive and anxiety symptoms, in seven patients (26–51 years old; four female) presenting distinctive psychiatric disorders (major depression, dysthymia, illness anxiety disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and anxiety disorders). tDCS protocol consisted of an acute phase of daily 30 min sessions, across 10 workdays (2 weeks Monday-to-Friday; Protocol 1) or 15 workdays (3 weeks Monday-to-Friday; Protocol 2). A maintenance phase followed, with twice-weekly sessions for 4 or 3 weeks, corresponding to 18 or 21 sessions in total (Protocol 1 or 2, respectively). The Flow tDCS device uses a 2 mA current intensity, targeting the bilateral dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. The Flow app offers virtually guided behavioral therapy courses to be completed during stimulation. We assessed depressive symptoms using MADRS-S and BDI-II, anxious symptoms using STAI-Trait, acceptability using ACCEPT-tDCS, and side effects using the Adverse Effects Questionnaire, at baseline and week 6 of treatment. Six patients underwent simultaneous cognitive-behavioral psychotherapy and two were on antidepressants and benzodiazepines. According to the Reliable Change Index (RCI), for depressive symptoms, we found clinically reliable improvement in five patients using MADRS-S (out of seven; RCI: −1.45, 80% CI; RCI: −2.17 to −4.82, 95% CI; percentage change: 37.9–66.7%) and in four patients using BDI-II (out of five; RCI: −3.61 to −6.70, 95% CI; percentage change: 57.1–100%). For anxiety symptoms, clinically reliable improvement was observed in five patients (out of six; RCI: −1.79, 90% CI; RCI: −2.55 to −8.64, 95% CI; percentage change: 12.3–46.4%). Stimulation was well-tolerated and accepted, with mild tingling sensation and scalp discomfort being the most common side effects. This case series highlights the applicability, acceptability, and promising results when combining home-based tDCS with psychotherapy and pharmacotherapy to manage depression and anxiety symptoms in clinical practice.
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spelling pubmed-95836682022-10-21 Home-based transcranial direct current stimulation in dual active treatments for symptoms of depression and anxiety: A case series Sobral, Mónica Guiomar, Raquel Martins, Vera Ganho-Ávila, Ana Front Psychiatry Psychiatry Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is a potential treatment strategy across some psychiatric conditions. However, there is high heterogeneity in tDCS efficacy as a stand-alone treatment. To increase its therapeutic potential, researchers have begun to explore the efficacy of combining tDCS with psychological and pharmacological interventions. The current case series details the effect of 6–10 weeks of self-administered tDCS paired with a behavioral therapy smartphone app (Flow™), on depressive and anxiety symptoms, in seven patients (26–51 years old; four female) presenting distinctive psychiatric disorders (major depression, dysthymia, illness anxiety disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and anxiety disorders). tDCS protocol consisted of an acute phase of daily 30 min sessions, across 10 workdays (2 weeks Monday-to-Friday; Protocol 1) or 15 workdays (3 weeks Monday-to-Friday; Protocol 2). A maintenance phase followed, with twice-weekly sessions for 4 or 3 weeks, corresponding to 18 or 21 sessions in total (Protocol 1 or 2, respectively). The Flow tDCS device uses a 2 mA current intensity, targeting the bilateral dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. The Flow app offers virtually guided behavioral therapy courses to be completed during stimulation. We assessed depressive symptoms using MADRS-S and BDI-II, anxious symptoms using STAI-Trait, acceptability using ACCEPT-tDCS, and side effects using the Adverse Effects Questionnaire, at baseline and week 6 of treatment. Six patients underwent simultaneous cognitive-behavioral psychotherapy and two were on antidepressants and benzodiazepines. According to the Reliable Change Index (RCI), for depressive symptoms, we found clinically reliable improvement in five patients using MADRS-S (out of seven; RCI: −1.45, 80% CI; RCI: −2.17 to −4.82, 95% CI; percentage change: 37.9–66.7%) and in four patients using BDI-II (out of five; RCI: −3.61 to −6.70, 95% CI; percentage change: 57.1–100%). For anxiety symptoms, clinically reliable improvement was observed in five patients (out of six; RCI: −1.79, 90% CI; RCI: −2.55 to −8.64, 95% CI; percentage change: 12.3–46.4%). Stimulation was well-tolerated and accepted, with mild tingling sensation and scalp discomfort being the most common side effects. This case series highlights the applicability, acceptability, and promising results when combining home-based tDCS with psychotherapy and pharmacotherapy to manage depression and anxiety symptoms in clinical practice. Frontiers Media S.A. 2022-10-06 /pmc/articles/PMC9583668/ /pubmed/36276322 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2022.947435 Text en Copyright © 2022 Sobral, Guiomar, Martins and Ganho-Ávila. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
spellingShingle Psychiatry
Sobral, Mónica
Guiomar, Raquel
Martins, Vera
Ganho-Ávila, Ana
Home-based transcranial direct current stimulation in dual active treatments for symptoms of depression and anxiety: A case series
title Home-based transcranial direct current stimulation in dual active treatments for symptoms of depression and anxiety: A case series
title_full Home-based transcranial direct current stimulation in dual active treatments for symptoms of depression and anxiety: A case series
title_fullStr Home-based transcranial direct current stimulation in dual active treatments for symptoms of depression and anxiety: A case series
title_full_unstemmed Home-based transcranial direct current stimulation in dual active treatments for symptoms of depression and anxiety: A case series
title_short Home-based transcranial direct current stimulation in dual active treatments for symptoms of depression and anxiety: A case series
title_sort home-based transcranial direct current stimulation in dual active treatments for symptoms of depression and anxiety: a case series
topic Psychiatry
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9583668/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36276322
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2022.947435
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