Trial reportBMC psychiatry2020
The safety and efficacy of transcranial direct current stimulation as add-on therapy to fluoxetine in obsessive-compulsive disorder: a randomized, double-blind, sham-controlled, clinical trial.
Trial report in BMC psychiatry, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers, 2 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
8 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 24 citations in OpenAlex.
- Circuit-based neuromodulation for obsessive-compulsive disorder: a systematic review, meta-analysis, and translational case study.Journal of psychiatry & neuroscience : JPN · 2026Pooled it
- Immediate and long-term efficacy of transcranial direct current stimulation (tCDS) in obsessive-compulsive disorder, posttraumatic stress disorder and anxiety disorders: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Translational psychiatry · 2024Pooled it
- Linking electric field directionality to treatment outcome in OCD: Insights from patient-specific tDCS modeling.Translational psychiatry · 2026Trial
- Transcranial direct current stimulation targeting the medial prefrontal cortex modulates functional connectivity and enhances safety learning in obsessive-compulsive disorder: Results from two pilot studies.Depression and anxiety · 2022Trial
- Obsessive-compulsive symptoms and traits in patients with burning mouth syndrome: a cross-sectional multicentric analysis.Clinical oral investigations · 2025Article
- Transcranial direct current stimulation as early augmentation in adolescent obsessive compulsive disorder: A pilot proof-of-concept randomized control trial.World journal of clinical pediatrics · 2024Article
- The Effects of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation in Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder Symptoms: A Meta-Analysis and Integrated Electric Fields Modeling Analysis.Biomedicines · 2022Review
- Feasibility and acceptability of transcranial stimulation in obsessive-compulsive symptoms (FEATSOCS): study protocol for a randomised controlled trial of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).Pilot and feasibility studies · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundObsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is an anxiety disorder that causes impairment in daily activities. This study aimed to assess the safety and efficacy of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) as adjunctive therapy with fluoxetine in individuals diagnosed with moderate to severe OCD.
methodsThis is a randomized, double-blind sham-controlled trial. Individuals with OCD who had baseline Yale-Brown obsessive-compulsive scale (Y-BOCS) of > 15 were enrolled. Eligible cases were randomly assigned in 1:1 ratio to receive either 20-min-period of stimulation with tDCS and fluoxetine (experimental arm) or fluoxetine only (sham control arm). The anodal electrode of tDCS was placed over the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (Fp3) and the cathodal electrode was placed over the right orbitofrontal cortex (F8). Two mA electrical stimulation with the tDCS was used for 20 min in individuals of experimental group. In the control group, electrodes were placed and stimulation was administered for 30 s to induce the same skin sensation as in experimental group. This procedure was performed three times per week for 8 weeks. Y-BOCS test was assessed at baseline, week 4 (after 12th stimulation), week 8 (after 24th stimulation), and 1 month after the last stimulation. The primary endpoints were the mean changes in Y-BOCS total score from baseline to the last visit. The secondary endpoints were the mean changes in obsession and compulsion sub-scores from baseline to the last visit. Adverse events were also assessed. Mixed design repeated measures analysis of variance assessed the endpoints.
resultsSixty individuals (30 in each group) were participated. All individuals in control group and 28 cases in experimental arm completed the trial. The mean Y-BOCS (F
conclusionThis study showed that among individuals with moderate to severe OCD, there was no significant difference regarding OC symptoms between cases used tDCS as adjunctive therapy with fluoxetine and individuals used fluoxetine only.
trial registrationIRCT2017030632904N1 . Registered 14 July 2017, http://irct.ir/user/trial/44193/view.
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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.