¬Transcranial direct current stimulation improves sleep quality in patients with insomnia after traumatic brain injury
Babak Bakhshayesh Eghbali, Sara Ramezani, Sina Sedaghat Herfeh, Cyrus Emir Alavi, Kiomars Najafi, Pedram Esmaeeli Lipaei, Seddigheh Eslamparast Kordmahalleh, Vahid Hosseinpour Sarmadi, Naser Amini, Fatemeh Ramezani Kapourchali
Abstract
INTRODUCTION: Insomnia is a serious problem after traumatic brain injury (TBI) and partially improves via sleeping pills. We investigated the efficacy of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) with a focus on the role of age and gender. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In a randomized double-blind clinical trial, 60 eligible TBI-induced insomnia patients were assigned to real and sham tDCS groups and were treated for three weeks. Sham but not real tDCS took sleeping pills for the first three weeks of the study and then used the placebo until the end of the study. The placebo was used by the real-tDCS group throughout the study. Sleep quality and insomnia severity were respectively evaluated by Pittsburg Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and Insomnia Severity Index (ISI) at three time points. RESULTS: < 0.001). In younger participants and those identified as men, the treatment-induced attenuation of the mean PSQI score was reported higher and more lasting in real than sham tDCS groups. CONCLUSION: Gender and age-specific tDCS protocols may be warranted to optimize the therapeutic effect of tDCS.