Home-administered transcranial direct current stimulation is a feasible intervention for depression: an observational cohort study
Leigh Charvet, Allan George, Erik Charlson, Matthew Lustberg, Amy Vogel-Eyny, Tehila Eilam‐Stock, Hyein Cho, Pamela Best, Luis E. Fernandez, Abhishek Datta, Marom Bikson, Kamran Nazim, Giuseppina Pilloni
Abstract
Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is an emerging treatment for major depression. We recruited participants with moderate-to-severe major depressive episodes for an observational clinical trial using Soterix Medical's tDCS telehealth platform as a standard of care. The acute intervention consisted of 28 sessions (5 sessions/week, 6 weeks) of the left anodal dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) tDCS (2.0 mA × 30 min) followed by a tapering phase of weekly sessions for 4 weeks (weeks 7–10). The n = 16 completing participants had a significant reduction in depressive symptoms by week 2 of treatment [Montgomery–Åsberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS), Baseline : 28.00 ± 4.35 vs. Week 2: 17.12 ± 5.32, p < 0.001] with continual improvement across each biweekly timepoint. Acute intervention responder and remission rates were 75 and 63% and 88 and 81% following the taper period (week 10).