More rTMS pulses or more sessions? The impact on treatment outcome for treatment resistant depression.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) is effective for treatment-resistant depression (TRD). Optimal rTMS parameters remain unclear, especially whether number of sessions or amount of pulses contribute more to treatment outcome. We hypothesize that treatment outcome depends on the number of sessions rather than on the amount of pulses.

Methods

We searched databases for randomized clinical trials (RCTs) on high-frequent (HF) or low-frequent (LF)-rTMS targeting the left or right DLPFC for TRD. Treatment efficacy was measured using standardized mean difference (SMD), calculated from pre- and post-treatment depression scores. Meta-regressions were used to explore linear associations between SMD and rTMS pulses, pulses/session and sessions for HF and LF-r

SUBMITTER: Oostra E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11884915 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature