Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40420071›Full record

Trial reportBMC psychiatry2025

Acceptability of home-based transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) in bipolar depression: thematic analysis of individual views.

Hakimeh Rezaei, Rachel D Woodham, Ali-Reza Ghazi-Noori, Philipp Ritter, Michael Bauer, Allan H Young, Elvira Bramon, Cynthia H Y Fu

2 registry-linked trialsAbstract readClinical Trial
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Trial report in BMC psychiatry, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to 2 registered trials, which are not on this map. Cited by 4 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

NCT05436613 nacompletednot on this map

Community-based Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation Treatment for Bipolar Depression

TypeinterventionalSponsorUniversity of East LondonRan2022 to 2024Enrolled44ConditionsDepression, Bipolar, Bipolar Disorder, Mood Disorders, Mental DisorderArmsTranscranial Direct Current Stimulation
NCT07556692 narecruitingnot on this mapstarted 2026, after this paper: background citation

Home-based Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation in Bipolar Depression: a Randomised, Double-blind, Placebo-controlled Trial

TypeinterventionalSponsorKing's College LondonRan2026 to 2027Enrolled212ConditionsBipolar Disorder (BD)ArmsFlow FL-100 tDCS headset
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Home-based transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) for bipolar depression: effects on quality of life and functioning-an open-label study.Quality of life research : an international journal of quality of life aspects of treatment, care and rehabilitation · 2026
    Trial
  3. Article
  4. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors.

Hakimeh RezaeiDepartment of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Faculty of Medicine, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany. hakimeh.rezayi@gmail.com.
Rachel D WoodhamDepartment of Psychology, University of East London, London, UK.
Ali-Reza Ghazi-NooriDepartment of Psychology, University of East London, London, UK.
Philipp RitterDepartment of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Faculty of Medicine, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany.
Michael BauerDepartment of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Faculty of Medicine, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany.
Allan H YoungCentre for Affective Disorders, Department of Psychological Medicine, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK.
Elvira BramonDepartment of Psychiatry, University College London, London, UK.
Cynthia H Y FuCentre for Affective Disorders, Department of Psychological Medicine, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK. cynthia.fu@kcl.ac.uk.

Funding

Disentangling the anatomical, functional and clinical heterogeneity of major depression, using machine learning methodsR01MH134236 · NIMH · UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA · PI DAVATZIKOS, CHRISTOS, FU, CYNTHIA · 2023 to 2024
$1.5M
NIMH NIH HHS R01 MH134236
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundAcceptability is a multifaceted concept that reflects how a treatment is viewed, which impacts patient engagement, adherence, and provider implementation. Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is emerging as a novel non-invasive treatment for bipolar depression. We developed a home-based protocol for tDCS, which has demonstrated efficacy in unipolar and bipolar depression. We sought to explore the acceptability of home-based tDCS in bipolar depression.

methodsParticipants were 35 adults (26 women) with bipolar disorder (mean age 47.37 years, SD ± 13.78) in a current depressive episode of at least moderate severity. tDCS was provided in a bifrontal montage, 2 mA for 30 min each session, over 6 weeks with real-time supervision. Acceptability was assessed in a questionnaire and individual interviews, conducted at two timepoints: baseline and post treatment. Individual interviews were analysed by thematic analysis.

resultsSix main themes were found: helpfulness, side effects, burden, gratitude, ethicality and comparison to medications. The themes of gratitude and comparison with medications were novel in this group compared to unipolar depression.

conclusionThemes reflected high acceptability of tDCS treatment in bipolar depression and indicated strong interest in novel treatments in this population. Qualitative analysis can provide novel insights into individual experiences, understand barriers to treatment, and offer guidance for improving clinical treatments.

trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov: NCT05436613 registered on 23 June 2022 https// www. CLINICALTRIALS: gov/study/NCT05436613 .

Indexed as

Bipolar DisorderPatient Acceptance of Health CareTranscranial Direct Current StimulationAdultFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedAcceptabilityHome-based treatment, bipolar depressionQualitative analysisThematic analysisTranscranial direct current stimulation

Identifiers

PMID40420071
PMCPMC12107877

What OpenQuestion holds

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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.