AUTHOR=Charvet Leigh , George Allan , Charlson Erik , Lustberg Matthew , Vogel-Eyny Amy , Eilam-Stock Tehila , Cho Hyein , Best Pamela , Fernandez Luis , Datta Abhishek , Bikson Marom , Nazim Kamran , Pilloni Giuseppina 

TITLE=Home-administered transcranial direct current stimulation is a feasible intervention for depression: an observational cohort study

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Psychiatry

VOLUME=Volume 14 - 2023

YEAR=2023

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychiatry/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1199773

DOI=10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1199773

ISSN=1664-0640

ABSTRACT=Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is an emerging treatment for major depression. We recruited participants with moderate-to-severe major depressive episode 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 left anodal dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) tDCS (2.0 mA x 30 minutes) followed by a tapering phase of weekly sessions for four 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).