Efficacy of Intensified Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation in Obsessive-compulsive Disorder

March 15, 2026 updated by: Mohammad Ali Salehinejad, The National Brain Mapping Laboratory (NBML)

Efficacy of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) in Symptoms, Quality of Life, Cognitive Deficits and Brain Physiology of Patients With Obsessive-compulsive Disorder

This is a randomized, double-blind, parallel-group, sham-controlled trial that aims to investigate the effectiveness of transcranial direct current stimulation (TDCS) on improving symptoms, quality of life, depression, and cognitive functions in 39 patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) that are randomized in 3 experimental groups.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Completed

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
42

Phase

Phase

The stage of a clinical trial studying a drug or biological product, based on definitions developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The phase is based on the study's objective, the number of participants, and other characteristics. There are five phases: Early Phase 1 (formerly listed as Phase 0), Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase 4. Not Applicable is used to describe trials without FDA-defined phases, including trials of devices or behavioral interventions.
  • Phase 1

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • Iran
      • Ardabil, Iran
        • Ardabil University of Medical Sciences

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years to 50 years (Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Diagnosis of Obsessive-compulsive Disorder by a psychiatrist and DSM-5-based behavioral checklist
  • being 18-50 years old
  • providing written informed consent
  • If female, negative urine pregnancy test
  • stable medication regime especially the classical neuroleptics and all CNS-activating medications, if taken, 4-6 weeks before the experiment and during the experiment

Exclusion Criteria:

  • smoker
  • pregnancy
  • alcohol or substance dependence
  • history of seizure
  • history of neurological disorder
  • history of head injury
  • presence of ferromagnetic objects in the body that are contraindicated for brain stimulation of the head (pacemakers or other implanted electrical devices, brain stimulators, some types of dental implants, aneurysm clips, metallic prostheses, permanent eyeliner, implanted delivery pump, or shrapnel fragments) or fear of enclosed spaces.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Double

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Participant Group / Arm

A group or subgroup of participants in a clinical trial that receives a specific intervention/treatment, or no intervention, according to the trial's protocol.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
Experimental: tDCS group 1
In the first experimental group, the TDCS intervention protocol consists of 10 sessions of 20 minutes of 1 mA electrical stimulation on 5 consecutive days with two sessions per day.
Device: transcranial direct current stimulation
Patients will receive 10 sessions of 20 minutes of either 1 mA, 2 mA or sham electrical stimulation on 5 consecutive days
Other Names:
  • tDCS
Experimental: tDCS group 2
In the second experimental group, the TDCS intervention protocol consists of 10 sessions of 20 minutes of 2 mA electrical stimulation on 5 consecutive days with two sessions per day.
Device: transcranial direct current stimulation
Patients will receive 10 sessions of 20 minutes of either 1 mA, 2 mA or sham electrical stimulation on 5 consecutive days
Other Names:
  • tDCS
Placebo Comparator: Control group
In the placebo group, the TDCS intervention protocol consists of 10 sessions of 20 minutes of sham electrical stimulation on 5 consecutive days with two sessions per day.
Device: transcranial direct current stimulation
Patients will receive 10 sessions of 20 minutes of either 1 mA, 2 mA or sham electrical stimulation on 5 consecutive days
Other Names:
  • tDCS

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive (Y-BOCS) rating scale
Time Frame: up to 1 month after the intervention
Score in the Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive (Y-BOCS). Total scores on the measure range from 0 to 40, with a score of 0-7 indicating subclinical symptoms, 8-15 mild symptoms, 16-23 moderate symptoms, 24-31 severe symptoms and 32-40 extreme symptoms.
up to 1 month after the intervention
Beck Anxiety Questionnaire (BAI)
Time Frame: up to 1 month after the intervention
Score in the Beck Anxiety Questionnaire (BAI). The BAI scores are classified as minimal anxiety (0 to 7), mild anxiety (8 to 15), moderate anxiety (16 to 25), and severe anxiety (30 to 63).
up to 1 month after the intervention
Working memory task
Time Frame: up to 1 month after the intervention
Performance in the working memory task as an executive function task
up to 1 month after the intervention
Response inhibition task 1
Time Frame: up to 1 month after the intervention
Performance in the response inhibition tasks (Flanker test)
up to 1 month after the intervention
Response inhibition task 2
Time Frame: up to 1 month after the intervention
Performance in the response inhibition tasks (Go/No-Go task)
up to 1 month after the intervention

Secondary Outcome Measures

Secondary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, a planned outcome measure that is not as important as the primary outcome measure for evaluating the effect of an intervention but is still of interest. Most clinical studies have more than one secondary outcome measure.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Beck Depression Questionnaire (BDI-II)
Time Frame: up to 1 month after the intervention

Score in the Beck Depression Questionnaire (BDI-II). The BDI-II scores are classified as below:

Score of 1-10: These ups and downs are considered normal. Score of 11-16: Mild mood disturbance. Score of 17-20: Borderline clinical depression. Score of 21-30: Moderate depression. Score of 31-40: Severe depression. Score of 40+ Extreme depression.
up to 1 month after the intervention
Quality of Life Questionnaire (WHOQUL)
Time Frame: up to 1 month after the intervention
Score in the Quality of Life Questionnaire. It has 26 items and each item is rated on a 5-point scale with a higher score indicative of higher quality of life.
up to 1 month after the intervention
electroencephalogram (EEG) oscillatory power
Time Frame: up to 1 month after the intervention
Change in the EEG power in alpha, delta, theta and beta bands
up to 1 month after the intervention
electroencephalogram (EEG) functional connectivity
Time Frame: up to 1 month after the intervention
Change in the EEG functional connectivity
up to 1 month after the intervention

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
The National Brain Mapping Laboratory (NBML)

Collaborators

Collaborators

An organization other than the sponsor that provides support for a clinical study. This support may include activities related to funding, design, implementation, data analysis, or reporting.
Ardabil University of Medical Sciences
Leibniz Research Centre for Working Environment and Human Factors

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Helpful Links

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
August 1, 2020

Primary Completion (Actual)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
June 1, 2021

Study Completion (Actual)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
February 25, 2022

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
August 12, 2022

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
August 12, 2022

First Posted (Actual)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
August 15, 2022

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
March 17, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
March 15, 2026

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
March 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • IR.ARUMS.REC.1399.102

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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