Trial reportEuropean geriatric medicine2022
Effects of transcranial direct current stimulation on physical and mental health in older adults with chronic musculoskeletal pain: a randomized controlled trial.
Trial report in European geriatric medicine, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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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
6 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 12 citations in OpenAlex.
- Transcranial Electrical Stimulation in Treatment of Depression: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.JAMA network open · 2025Pooled it
- Immediate and long-term effects of transcranial direct current stimulation on pain relief in older adults with Alzheimer's disease and related dementias: A pilot study.Geriatric nursing (New York, N.Y.)Trial
- Comparative Efficacy of Non-invasive Brain Stimulation for Pain, Anxiety, and Depression: A Systematic Review and Network Meta-analysis.Pain and therapy · 2026Review
- Article
- The mediating role of default mode network during meaning-making aroused by mental simulation between stressful events and stress-related growth: a task fMRI study.Behavioral and brain functions : BBF · 2023Article
- Time since onset might be of essence: A recommendation to assess the effects of combination of non-pharmacological neuromodulatory approaches at early stage since symptoms onset.Frontiers in neurology · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 1 institution in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposeWe investigated the effects of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) combined with physical therapy (PT) on pain levels, physical activity levels, quality of life, and depression in older adults with chronic musculoskeletal pain.
methodsTwenty-five older adults (9 males and 16 females), aged between 66 and 86 years (active group 77.2 ± 3.9; sham group 76.6 ± 6.2), volunteers were randomly allocated in the active (active tDCS + PT) and sham groups (sham tDCS + PT), and received the intervention three times per week for 8 weeks. Pain level, physical activity level, depression state, and quality of life were assessed based on the Visual Analog Scale (VAS), Physical Activity Scale for the Elderly (PASE), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) scale, and Short-Form 36 Health Survey Questionnaire (SF-36), respectively. Measurements were conducted four times: at baseline, mid-intervention, post-intervention, and 1-month follow-up.
resultsAs a result, at 8 weeks, the active group yielded greater improvements in VAS, BDI, and SF-36 scores than the sham tDCS group. At follow-up, the tDCS group led to a greater improvement in VAS, PASE, and SF-36 scores compared to sham tDCS group (p < 0.05).
conclusionOur results suggest a beneficial effect of tDCS combined with PT in older adults with chronic musculoskeletal pain in the reduction of pain sensation, increment of physical activity level, increment of the quality of life, and reduction of depression incidents. This opens the possibility the possibility of using tDCS as a regular treatment for this population's physical and mental health.
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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.