The purpose of this study is to determine whether transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is effective in the treatment of suicidal thinking in individuals with a depressive episode and either posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), history of mild traumatic brain injury (TBI), or both conditions.
Evidence suggests that depression in general, and suicidal ideation in particular, results from a dysfunctional regulatory pathway involving prefrontal cortical governance over limbic activity. Repeated daily non-invasive stimulation of the prefrontal cortex with TMS would theoretically strengthen and reset this cortical control pathway and reduce suicidal ideation and restore healthy circuit behavior. The aim of the current study is to assess the efficacy of TMS therapy in the treatment of suicidal ideation in patients with depressive episode(s) and either PTSD or mild TBI or both. It is hypothesized that participants who receive repetitive TMS (Group 1) relative to sham treatment (Group 2) three times daily over three days will evidence more improvement in suicidal ideation from baseline to the end of day 3. Participants will be followed for six months following treatment to assess safety and long-term efficacy of TMS.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
TRIPLE
Enrollment
42
Group 1: The treatment group will receive the following dose of repetitive TMS delivered over the left prefrontal cortex: 10 Hz, 120% Motor Threshold, 5 second pulse train, 10 second intertrain (IT) interval, 30 minutes of treatment, 6000 pulses per session; three sessions each day (18,000 stimuli) for three days for a total of 54,000 stimuli.
The control group will receive an identical dosing schedule of "sham" repetitive TMS over three days.
Walter Reed National Military Medical Center
Bethesda, Maryland, United States
Ralph H. Johnson VA Medical Center
Charleston, South Carolina, United States
Scale of Suicidal Ideation
Time frame: baseline to Day 3 of TMS treatment
Safety and tolerability
-adverse events, study study discontinuation due to adverse events, \& decrease in cognitive function as measured by significant change on neuropsychological measures
Time frame: baseline through 6-month follow-up.
long-term efficacy of TMS
-length of current hospital stay along with Scale of Suicidal Ideation score, rehospitalization rates, and suicide completion rates over 6 months of follow-up
Time frame: baseline through 6-month follow-up
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