Effects of Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation on Patients with Major Depressive Disorder: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

To evaluate the symptoms improvement of major depressive disorder (MDD) by transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) the PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), and SinoMed (a biomedical literature service system managed by the Institute of Medical Information [IMI] and Library of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences [CAMS]) library databases were searched. A total of 12 studies involving 1318 patients were included. It was found that the Hamilton Depression rating scale (HAMD) score decreased after TMS (-4.47, 95% CI: -7.10 to -1.84, P < 0.00001). It showed a decreased grade of Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS) after TMS treatment (-2.72, 95% CI: -4.75 to -0.70, P=0.0004) compared to the control. The difference in the Involvement-Detachment scale (IDS) score was not statistically significant between the groups (-2.40, 95% CI: -7.42 to 2.62, P=0.05). The Clinical Global Impression (CGI) score decreased after TMS treatment (-1.12, 95% CI: -2.43 to -0.20, P < 0.00001) compared to the control group. The HAMD, MADRS, and CGI scores showed an improvement trend after TMS treatment, indicating TMS has a therapeutic effect on major depression.