Trial of Bilateral tDCS for Depression

September 15, 2015 updated by: Colleen Loo, The University of New South Wales
Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is a novel treatment approach for depression that has shown promising efficacy in four recent double-blind, randomized, sham-controlled trials (RCT) and a meta-analysis. Mood, cognitive test performance and biomarkers will be measured during the trial.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

4

Phase

  • Phase 2
  • 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

  • Australia
    • New South Wales
      • Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, 2031
        • Black Dog Institute / University of New South Wales

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 and older (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  1. Participant meets criteria for a DSM-IV Major Depressive episode.
  2. MADRS score of 20 or more.

Exclusion Criteria:

  1. Diagnosis (as defined by DSM-IV) of: any psychotic disorder (lifetime); eating disorder (current or within the past year); obsessive compulsive disorder (lifetime); post-traumatic stress disorder (current or within the past year); mental retardation.
  2. History of drug or alcohol abuse or dependence (as per DSM-IV criteria) within the last 3 months (except nicotine and caffeine).
  3. Inadequate response to ECT in the current episode of depression.
  4. Participant is on regular benzodiazepine medication which is not clinically appropriate to discontinue.
  5. Participant requires a rapid clinical response due to inanition, psychosis or high suicide risk.
  6. Neurological disorder or insult, e.g., recent stroke (CVA), which places participant at risk of seizure or neuronal damage with tDCS.
  7. Participant has metal in the cranium, skull defects, or skin lesions on scalp (cuts, abrasions, rash) at proposed electrode sites.
  8. Female participant who is pregnant, or of child-bearing age, sexually active and not using reliable contraception (urine test for pregnancy will be used).
  9. Participants who are not fluent in English will not be included in the trial for safety reasons.

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: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Active tDCS (1)
Device: Eldith Neuroconn tDCS device
Active Comparator: Active tDCS (2)
Device: Eldith Neuroconn tDCS device

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
Montgomery Asberg Depression Rating Scale for Depression (MADRS)
Time Frame: 4 weeks
4 weeks

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
Quick Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology - Self Report (QIDS-SR)
Time Frame: 4 weeks
4 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

The University of New South Wales

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

May 1, 2013

Primary Completion (Actual)

July 1, 2015

Study Completion (Actual)

July 1, 2015

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

May 5, 2013

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

May 7, 2013

First Posted (Estimate)

May 8, 2013

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

September 17, 2015

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

September 15, 2015

Last Verified

September 1, 2015

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • HC13052

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.

Subscribe