Author: Straasø B1, Lauritzen L1, Lunde M1, Vinberg M2, Lindberg L1, Larsen ER3, Dissing S4, Bech P1.
Affiliation: 11Psychiatric Research Unit,Psychiatric Centre North Zealand,Copenhagen University Hospital,Hillerød,Denmark. 22Department of Psychiatry,Psychiatric Centre Copenhagen,Copenhagen University Hospital,Denmark. 33Department of Affective Disorders,Mood Disorders Research Unit,Aarhus University Hospital,Denmark. 44Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine,Panum Institute,University of Copenhagen,Copenhagen,Denmark.
Conference/Journal: Acta Neuropsychiatr.
Date published: 2014 Oct
Other:
Volume ID: 26 , Issue ID: 5 , Pages: 272-9 , Special Notes: doi: 10.1017/neu.2014.5 , Word Count: 242
OBJECTIVE:
To evaluate to what extent a twice daily dose of Transcranial Pulsating ElectroMagnetic Fields (T-PEMF) was superior to once daily in patients with treatment-resistant depression as to obtaining symptom remission after 8 weeks of augmentation therapy.
METHODS:
A self-treatment set-up of the T-PEMF device was used allowing self-administration by patients in own homes. All patients were treated for 30 min per T-PEMF session. The antidepressant medication the patients were receiving at baseline remained unchanged during the trial. The patients were randomised to either one T-PEMF dose (active dose in the morning and sham in the afternoon) or two T-PEMF doses (active dose both morning and afternoon) in a double-blind procedure. A score of 7 or less on the Hamilton Depression Scale (HAM-D17) was the criterion of remission.
RESULTS:
In total 34 patients received active T-PEMF once a day and 31 patients twice daily. After 5 weeks of therapy remission was obtained in 26.5% and 32.3% on one dose and two doses of T-PEMF, respectively. After 8 weeks the rate of remission was 73.5% and 67.7%, respectively. The side effects as measured by the Udvalget for Kliniske Undersøgelser scale showed a better toleration of the antidepresssive medication in both treatment groups, which was reflected by the WHO-5 well-being scale with increased scores in both groups of patients.
CONCLUSION:
The high remission rate obtained by the T-PEMF augmentation was not a dose effect (one versus two daily T-PEMF sessions) but was explained by the extension of the treatment period from 5 to 8 weeks.
PMID: 25241755