SynthesisThe Psychiatric quarterly2026
Effects of continuous theta burst stimulation on patients with obsessive‒compulsive disorder (OCD): A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized sham controlled trials.
Synthesis in The Psychiatric quarterly, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 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
2 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- A systematic review of transcranial magnetic stimulation for generalized anxiety disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and posttraumatic stress disorder.BMC psychiatry · 2026Pooled it
- Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation treatment for obsessive-compulsive disorder.Current opinion in psychiatry · 2026Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
9 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Despite standard pharmacological and behavioral therapies, a significant proportion of patients with obsessive‒compulsive disorder (OCD) have a suboptimal or no response. Continuous theta burst stimulation (cTBS) is a novel variant of traditional transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) that has shown promising results in a wide array of behavioral disorders. To integrate the evidence of its role in OCD, we conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of pertinent randomized controlled trials (RCTs). We conducted a comprehensive literature search from inception until June 2024 on PubMed, Google Scholar, PsycINFO, Embase, and clinical trial registries. Six RCTs were identified and included in our study. Data regarding obsessive‒compulsive symptoms, depression, and anxiety were extracted and analyzed via a random effects model. We found no significant differences between the active and sham groups regarding the change in obsessive‒compulsive symptoms, neither immediately posttreatment (p = 0.98) nor at follow-up (p = 0.83). Similarly, neither group was superior in alleviating concomitant anxiety and depression. Owing to the limited number of studies and their variability in terms of brain targets and the total number of pulses administered, we cannot definitively conclude the effectiveness of cTBS in patients with OCD. However, our research highlights it as a potentially safe treatment option with no serious side effects. Future investigators should aim to optimize intervention protocols and utilize neuronavigation techniques for accurate delivery of pulses to targeted brain loci. High-powered trials with sufficient sample sizes are needed to gain deeper insight into the effects of cTBS on primary and secondary clinical manifestations of OCD.
Indexed as
Identifiers
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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.