Longitudinal study examines improvements in affective symptoms and quality of life following rTMS treatment in individuals with migraine, suggesting potential benefits.
Background: Migraine is frequently associated with anxiety, depression, and reduced quality of life, contributing to substantial functional impairment. Objective: To examine longitudinal changes in affective symptoms, headache-related burden, and quality of life following repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) in individuals with migraine. Methods: In this one-arm longitudinal study, 32 adults with migraine underwent 10 sessions of rTMS. Anxiety (HAMA), depression (HAMD), and migraine-specific quality of life were assessed at baseline, post-treatment, and 3-month follow-up, while headache impact (HIT-6) and disability (MIDAS) were evaluated at baseline and post-treatment. Repeated-measures analyses and paired comparisons were conducted. Results: Significant improvements over time were observed for anxiety, depression, and quality of life (all p < 0.001). Anxiety showed progressive improvement through follow-up, while depressive symptoms improved early with further consolidation at 3 months. Migraine-related quality of life increased significantly across all timepoints. Headache impact and disability decreased significantly following treatment (both p < 0.001), with large effect sizes. Conclusions: rTMS was associated with improvements in affective symptoms, migraine-related burden, and quality of life. However, given the one-arm design, these findings should be interpreted cautiously. Controlled studies are needed to confirm these results.
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Zgarbură et al. (2026) studied this question.
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