Trial reportTranslational psychiatry2017
Clustered repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation for the prevention of depressive relapse/recurrence: a randomized controlled trial.
Trial report in Translational psychiatry, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 17 papers, 5 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
17 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 47 citations in OpenAlex.
- Maintenance of Noninvasive Brain Stimulation for Preventing Relapse in Depression: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Alpha psychiatry · 2025Pooled it
- Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists professional practice guidelines for the administration of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation.The Australian and New Zealand journal of psychiatry · 2024Guideline
- Optimally combining transcranial magnetic stimulation with antidepressants in major depressive disorder: A systematic review and Meta-analysis.Journal of affective disorders · 2024Pooled it
- Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Combined with Antidepressants for the First Episode of Major Depressive Disorder.Current neuropharmacology · 2020Pooled it
- A systematic literature review of the clinical efficacy of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) in non-treatment resistant patients with major depressive disorder.BMC psychiatry · 2019Pooled it
- Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation as Maintenance Treatment of Depression: The MAINT-R Randomized Clinical Trial.JAMA network open · 2025Trial
- Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) combined with antidepressant pharmacotherapy for depression: state-dependent mechanisms, clinical evidence, and translational challenges.Molecular psychiatry · 2026Review
- Comparing the Feasibility of In-Person and Online Preventive Cognitive Therapy for Major Depressive Disorder After Partial Response to Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation: Protocol for a Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial.JMIR research protocols · 2026Article
- Reconsideration of the lifetime limit of 50 rebated TMS sessions.Australasian psychiatry : bulletin of Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists · 2026Article
- Cost-utility analysis of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation and transcranial direct current stimulation as adjunctive therapies in Chinese patients with major depressive disorder.BMC psychiatry · 2026Article
- rTMS for treatment resistant depression - a single center community experience.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2026Article
- Research advances in neuronavigated target localization for repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation in depression: from standardization to individualized neuromodulation.Frontiers in neuroimaging · 2025Review
- Transcranial magnetic stimulation as a countermeasure for behavioral and neuropsychological risks of long-duration and deep-space missions.NPJ microgravity · 2024Article
- Maintenance repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) therapy for treatment-resistant depression: a study protocol of a multisite, prospective, non-randomized longitudinal study.BMC psychiatry · 2023Article
- Investigating the Role of Maintenance TMS Protocols for Major Depression: Systematic Review and Future Perspectives for Personalized Interventions.Journal of personalized medicine · 2023Review
- Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation for major depressive disorder: basic principles and future directions.Therapeutic advances in psychopharmacology · 2021Review
- Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation treatment for depressive disorders: current knowledge and future directions.Current opinion in psychiatry · 2019Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
15 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) may have the potential to prevent depressive relapse. This assessor-blinded, randomized controlled study was designed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of rTMS as a mono- and combination therapy in the prevention of depressive relapse/recurrence. A total of 281 depressed patients who had achieved stable full or partial remission on a 6-month antidepressant (ADP) run-in treatment were randomly assigned to an rTMS (n = 91), ADP (n = 108), or combined (rTMS + ADP, n = 82) treatment group for 12 months. Monthly clustered rTMS was conducted in 5-10 sessions over a 3-5-day period. Maintenance outcomes were assessed using time to relapse/recurrence and relapse/recurrence rate. Overall, 71.2% (200/281) of the participants completed the treatment per the protocol. rTMS + ADP and rTMS significantly reduced the risk of relapse/recurrence compared with ADP (P = 0.000), with hazard ratios of 0.297 and 0.466, respectively. Both rTMS-containing regimens produced significantly lower relapse/recurrence rates than ADP (15.9% and 24.2% vs. 44.4%, P < 0.001). In the relapsed/recurrent subgroup, first-episode depressed, rTMS-treated patients had a markedly lower relapse/recurrence rate than ADP-treated patients. Five patients on the ADP-containing regimens, but none on rTMS alone, developed acute mania. The rTMS-containing regimens had considerably more certain side effects than did the ADP group. We concluded that TMS, whether as a mono- or additional therapy, is superior to antidepressants in preventing depressive relapse/recurrence, particularly in first-episode depressed patients. The treatment does not increase the risk of manic switch, but may increase the risk of certain side effects.
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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.