tDCS Associated With Symptom Provocation in the Management of Patients With Resistant Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (PPSTDCS-TOC)

Direct Transcranial Stimulation With Direct Current Associated With Symptom Provocation in the Management of Patients With Resistant Obsessive Compulsive

This is a single-center study about patients with severe resistant OCD.

Main assumption is that performing 10 tDCS sessions with the anode positioned at the level of the right orbitofrontal cortex, and the cathode at the level of the supplementary motor area, associated with the provocation of symptoms before each session is effective in the reduction in obsessive-compulsive symptoms.

After the inclusion visit, the treatment period is provided from D1 to D12 (one session per day from Monday to Friday, for two consecutive weeks, i.e. a total of ten sessions). Each tDCS session lasts 30 minutes at an intensity of 2 mA and is preceded by symptom provocation using a standardized procedure performed by trained personnel.

The patients are then assessed on D42 and D102 (i.e. 1 month and 3 months after the end of the tDCS sessions).

Study Overview

• Status: Recruiting
• Conditions: Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: tDCS + symptoms provocation

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Estimated): 25
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Ghina HARIKA-GERMANEAU, Dr; Phone Number: 0033 516526118; Email: ghina.harika-germaneau@ch-poitiers.fr

Study Locations

• France
  • Poitiers, France
    • Recruiting
    • Centre Hospitalier Henri Laborit
    • Contact: Ghina Harika Germaneau

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Adult; Older Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Patient suffering from OCD evolving for at least 2 years diagnosed according to DSM-V criteria;
• Patient with good insight, defined by a score less than or equal to 18 at the threshold of delusions on the BABS (Brown Assessment of Beliefs Scale) insight scale;
• Absence of a current depressive episode (MADRS score < 21) or suicidal risk (MADRS score item 10 < 3);
• Absence of epileptic pathology;
• Chronic obsessive-compulsive disorder defined by a total YBOCS score > 20, or a subscale score > 15;

• Drug-resistant obsessive-compulsive disorder despite treatment with:

  1. at least 2 antidepressants of the IRS type at an effective dose and for a sufficient duration
  2. and/or Behavioral and Cognitive therapy for at least 1 year;
• Therapeutic stability (antidepressants) for more than 12 weeks without significant improvement. This treatment, at a fixed dose, will be maintained during the study;
• Patient aged between 18 and 70 included
• Patient who has given his/her informed consent after having received written information on the planned procedure;
• Patient benefiting from social security or by benefiting through a third party.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Woman of childbearing age without effective means of contraception (hormonal/mechanical: oral, injectable, transcutaneous, implantable, intrauterine device, or surgical: tubal ligation, hysterectomy, total oophorectomy)
• Pregnant or nursing woman;
• Patient hospitalized under duress (SPDT, SPDRE);
• Patient under guardianship or curatorship;
• Patient with another DSM-V Axis 1 diagnosis (Schizophrenic Disorder, Bipolar Disorder, Substance Abuse or Substance Dependence).

Generalized anxiety disorder, social phobia, nicotine addiction and history of major depressive episodes are not exclusion criteria. Axis I comorbidity will be explored using MINI 5.0.0. ;

• Patient suffering from a current depressive episode;
• Patient at risk of suicide;
• Patient with skin lesions on the scalp;
• History of head trauma;
• Patient with an intracerebral metal object
• Patient with a pacemaker;
• Presence of epileptic pathology;
• Patient in an emergency situation or unable to give personal consent

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: N/A
• Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

1

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: tDCS + symptoms provocation	Behavioral: tDCS + symptoms provocation; The treatment consists of 10 sessions of tDCS. Each tDCS session lasts 30 minutes at an intensity of 2mA and is preceded by a provocation of symptoms.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
YBOCS scale	The primary endpoint corresponds to the change in the score on the YBOCS scale between the inclusion visit (Day 0) and the Day 42 visit. A score of 0 corresponds to the absence of OCD and a score of 40 to maximum severity.	3,5 months

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Centre Hospitalier Henri Laborit

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): October 17, 2023
• Primary Completion (Estimated): April 1, 2027
• Study Completion (Estimated): July 1, 2027

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: August 24, 2023
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: August 24, 2023
• First Posted (Actual): August 30, 2023

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Estimated): June 5, 2025
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: June 3, 2025
• Last Verified: June 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Mental Disorders; Personality Disorders; Anxiety Disorders; Compulsive Personality Disorder; Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
• Other Study ID Numbers: 2023-A01148-37

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