ArticlePsychological medicine2025
The effects of rTMS on self-reported quality of life in younger and older adults with major depressive disorder.
Article in Psychological medicine, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
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Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed.
- Efficacy of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation on postoperative pain in patients undergoing video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery: study protocol for a prospective, single-center, randomized controlled trial.Frontiers in medicine · 2026Article
- Recent Advances in Multimodal Non-Pharmacological Interventions for Late-Life Depression.Neuropsychiatric disease and treatment · 2025Review
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Authors and funding
7 authors.
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Abstract
backgroundRepetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) is a well-established intervention for treatment-resistant depression. However, its effects on patient-reported outcomes, such as quality of life (QoL), have not been fully characterized, especially among older adults. This study compares the impact of rTMS on QoL in younger (<60 years) versus older (≥60 years) adults with major depressive disorder.
methodsWe analyzed data from 531 participants with depression (ages 18-89 years) from two randomized clinical trials (THREE-D and FOUR-D). All participants received either unilateral or bilateral rTMS or theta burst stimulation. QoL was assessed using the Quality of Life Enjoyment and Satisfaction Questionnaire - Short Form at baseline, end of treatment, and 12-week follow-up, and compared between younger adults (age < 60 years;
resultsAfter rTMS treatment, both younger and older adults experienced statistically significant improvements in QoL, with medium to large effect sizes. The effect was sustained over 12 weeks of follow-up. At baseline, only 0.3% of younger adults and 2.3% of older adults reported normal QoL, which significantly increased to, respectively, 19.8 and 19.4% by the end of treatment, and 23.7 and 26.8% at the 12-week follow-up.
conclusionsrTMS yielded acute and sustained clinically meaningful improvements in QoL, with similar effects among younger and older adults with depression. The magnitude of improvement was comparable to, or exceeded, that reported in antidepressant trials.
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