SynthesisBrazilian journal of medical and biological research = Revista brasileira de pesquisas medicas e biologica2015
Bilateral repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation for treatment-resistant depression: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.
Synthesis in Brazilian journal of medical and biological research = Revista brasileira de pesquisas medicas e biologica, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers, 6 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
13 citing papers in PubMed, 6 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 40 citations in OpenAlex.
- The effectiveness of non-invasive brain stimulation in treatment of major depressive disorder (MDD): a systematic review and transfer analysis.Journal of neural transmission (Vienna, Austria : 1996) · 2025Pooled it
- Transcranial magnetic stimulation in the treatment of adolescent depression: a systematic review and meta-analysis of aggregated and individual-patient data from uncontrolled studies.European child & adolescent psychiatry · 2022Pooled it
- Effect of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation on depression and cognition in individuals with traumatic brain injury: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Scientific reports · 2021Pooled it
- Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation for People With Treatment-Resistant Depression: A Health Technology Assessment.Ontario health technology assessment series · 2021Pooled it
- Unilateral and bilateral repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation for treatment-resistant depression: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials over 2 decadesJournal of psychiatry & neuroscience : JPN · 2019Pooled it
- Canadian Network for Mood and Anxiety Treatments (CANMAT) 2016 Clinical Guidelines for the Management of Adults with Major Depressive Disorder: Section 4. Neurostimulation Treatments.Canadian journal of psychiatry. Revue canadienne de psychiatrie · 2016Pooled it
- Treatment of mixed depression with theta-burst stimulation (TBS): results from a double-blind, randomized, sham-controlled clinical trial.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2021Trial
- Article
- Efficacy of the Whole-Body Cryotherapy as Add-on Therapy to Pharmacological Treatment of Depression-A Randomized Controlled Trial.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2020Article
- Efficacy of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation in treatment-resistant depression: the evidence thus far.General psychiatry · 2019Review
- Updates on Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Therapy for Major Depressive Disorder.The Psychiatric clinics of North America · 2018Review
- Updated Review on the Clinical Use of Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation in Psychiatric Disorders.Neuroscience bulletin · 2017Review
- Ketamine, Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation, and Depression Specific Yoga and Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy in Management of Treatment Resistant Depression: Review and Some Data on Efficacy.Depression research and treatment · 2015Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
There has been concern regarding the use of controversial paradigms for repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) to manage treatment-resistant depression (TRD). This meta-analysis assessed the efficacy of bilateral rTMS compared with unilateral and sham rTMS in patients with TRD. PubMed, Embase, CENTRAL, PsycINFO, Web of Science, EAGLE and NTIS databases were searched to identify relevant studies, and randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on bilateral rTMS for TRD patients were included. The response was defined as the primary outcome, and remission was the secondary outcome. Ten RCTs that included 634 patients met the eligibility criteria. The risk ratio (RRs) of both the primary and secondary outcomes of bilateral rTMS showed non-significant increases compared to unilateral rTMS (RR=1.01, P=0.93; odds ratio [OR]=0.77, P=0.22). Notably, the RR of the primary bilateral rTMS outcome was significantly increased compared to that for sham rTMS (RR=3.43, P=0.0004). The results of our analysis demonstrated that bilateral rTMS was significantly more effective than sham rTMS but not unilateral rTMS in patients with TRD. Thus, bilateral rTMS may not be a useful paradigm for patients with TRD.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.