Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation in Postpartum Depression (rTMSPPD)

October 10, 2011 updated by: Eduardo Moacyr Krieger, University of Sao Paulo General Hospital

Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Effects on Clinical, Cognitive and Social Performance in Postpartum Depression

Several factors characterize repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) as a strategic aid in the treatment of postpartum depression.

However, up to current days there have been no studies evaluating the effects of rTMS on neurocognitive and social performance of women suffering from the disorder.

The present study evaluates the impacts of rTMS in clinical, cognitive and social performance.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Transcranial magnetic stimulation is a noninvasive technique that can influence specific areas of the brain and has very few side effects.

The treatment with transcranial magnetic stimulation requires attendance to hospital daily sessions for 4 consecutive weeks. Each session lasts up to 30 minutes.

Side effects include scalp discomfort and mild headache. No anesthesia is required.

Stimulation aims the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, a region previously studied to treat depression symptoms with positive results.

The present technique has never been employed in previous studies, but risks are insignificant.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

14

Phase

  • Phase 2

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

  • Brazil
      • São Paulo, Brazil
        • Department and Institute of Psychiatry, General Hospital, University of Sao Paulo medical school

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

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years to 36 years (Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

Female

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • major depression with a puerperal onset, according to the criteria of the DSM-IV-R (APA, 2000), as well as through a structured clinical interview (SCID-1/P v 2.0)
  • baseline score of at least 14 points on the Hamilton Depression rating Scale-17 items
  • baseline score of at least 13 points on the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale.
  • range = 18-36 years
  • women who had given birth 1-6 months
  • any pharmacological treatment other than clonazepam (1 mg/day)

Exclusion Criteria:

  • comprised ferromagnetic metallic implants
  • pacemakers
  • previous neurosurgery
  • history of seizures
  • major head trauma
  • alcoholism
  • drug addiction
  • any psychiatric or neurological disorder other than depression and anxiety
  • psychotic depression
  • suicidal propensities

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
Intervention / Treatment
Placebo Comparator: Sham rTMS
Drug-free patients, receiving 20 sessions (1 session daily) of sham (placebo) rTMS delivered to the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex.
Procedure: repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS)

20 daily sessions: each with 25 trains of 10 seconds at 5Hz, with a 20 second inter-train interval, at an intensity of 120% of motor threshold.

Site: Left Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex

Other Names:
  • TMS
Active Comparator: Active rTMS
Drug-free patients, receiving 20 sessions (1 session daily) of active rTMS delivered to the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex.
Procedure: repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS)

20 daily sessions: each with 25 trains of 10 seconds at 5Hz, with a 20 second inter-train interval, at an intensity of 120% of motor threshold.

Site: Left Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex

Other Names:
  • TMS

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS)
Time Frame: 6 weeks
Reduction on the scores of HDRS (as on the scores of Edinburgh Pospartum Depression Scale and Hamilton Anxiety Scale; and improves the global clinical status in Clinical Global Impression, Global Assessment Scale and 36-item Short-form Health Survey - Quality of Life)
6 weeks

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Battery of Neuropsychological Tests and Social Adjustment Scale
Time Frame: 6 weeks
Performance of neuropsychological tests and social function - Trail Making Test, Wisconsin Card Sorting Test, Controlled Oral Word Association Test, Victoria Stroop Test, Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test, WAIS-III (adapted for use in Brazil) subtests Similarities, Picture Completion, Digit Span, Digit-Symbol Coding and Social Adjustment Scale-Self Report (SAS-SR; adapted for use in Brazil)
6 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

University of Sao Paulo General Hospital

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Martin L Myczkowski, MSD, University of Sao Paulo General Hospital

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

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

August 1, 2007

Primary Completion (Actual)

July 1, 2008

Study Completion (Actual)

September 1, 2009

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

November 22, 2010

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

October 10, 2011

First Posted (Estimate)

October 14, 2011

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

October 14, 2011

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

October 10, 2011

Last Verified

October 1, 2011

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 0588/07

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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