Combining repeated transcranial magnetic stimulation with psychological intervention can synergistically relieve depression among those with Parkinson′s disease / 中华物理医学与康复杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To explore any effect of supplementing psychological intervention with repeated transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) in the rehabilitation of depressed persons with Parkinson′s disease (dPD).Methods:A total of 120 dPD patients were randomly divided into a psychological intervention group, an rTMS treatment group and an observation group, each of 40. In addition to conventional anti-Parkinson′s treatment and anti-depressant treatment, the psychological intervention group received such treatment and the rTMS group received 10Hz rTMS applied over the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex for 8 weeks. The observation group received both interventions. Before and after the treatment, depression, neurological functioning and life quality were evaluated in all of the subjects using the 24-item Hamilton Depression Scale, the Movement Disorder Society′s unified Parkinson′s disease rating scale and the SF-36 questionnaire.Results:After the intervention, significant improvement was observed in all of the quantitative evaluations as well as in the remission rate (40%) and the reaction rate (90%). On average, the observation group′s results were significantly better than those of the other two groups.Conclusion:Psychological intervention and rTMS a have synergistic effect in treating dPD patients and their combination is worthy of clinical promotion and application, as it can relieve their depression and improve their neurological functioning and life quality.