The purpose of this study is to assess acceptability, and safety of providing tDCS to ADRD patients with behavioral symptoms and to assess the efficacy of tDCS for ADRD-related symptoms, mainly behavioral symptoms.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
NA
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE
Enrollment
3
All participants will receive active tDCS with a constant current intensity of 2mA. Anodal tDCS will be applied to the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, while cathodal electrode will be positioned on the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. Caregivers will help setting up and administering tDCS for participants with AD at home. tDCS will be applied for 30min at an intensity of 2mA, with 30 s ramping up and down.
The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston
Houston, Texas, United States
The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio
San Antonio, Texas, United States
Acceptability of the tDCS Treatment as Assessed by the tDCS Acceptability Questionnaire
The tDCS acceptability questionnaire has a total score from 0 to 100, a higher score indicates higher acceptance of the tDCS treatment.
Time frame: week 2
Acceptability of the tDCS Treatment as Assessed by the tDCS Acceptability Questionnaire
The tDCS acceptability questionnaire has a total score from 0 to 100, a higher score indicates higher acceptance of the tDCS treatment.
Time frame: week 4
Acceptability of the tDCS Treatment as Assessed by the tDCS Acceptability Questionnaire
The tDCS acceptability questionnaire has a total score from 0 to 100, a higher score indicates higher acceptance of the tDCS treatment.
Time frame: week 6
Acceptability of the tDCS Treatment as Assessed by the tDCS Acceptability Questionnaire
The tDCS acceptability questionnaire has a total score from 0 to 100, a higher score indicates higher acceptance of the tDCS treatment.
Time frame: week 12
Safety as Assessed by the Side Effects Questionnaire
side effects include itching, burning, headache, fatigue, and dizziness.
Time frame: week 2
Safety as Assessed by the Side Effects Questionnaire
side effects include itching, burning, headache, fatigue, and dizziness.
Time frame: week 4
Safety as Assessed by the Side Effects Questionnaire
side effects include itching, burning, headache, fatigue, and dizziness.
Time frame: week 6
This platform is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional.
Dementia-related Behavioral Symptoms as Assessed by the Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI-Q) Scale
NPI-Q evaluates 12 discrete neuropsychiatric symptoms considering their severity and the related caregiver distress.
Time frame: Baseline, week 2, week 4, week 6, week 12
Apathy as Assessed by the Brief Dimensional Apathy Scale (b-DAS)
This scale consists of 9 questions each one scored from 0(almost always) to 3(hardly ever), higher scores indicate more apathy
Time frame: Baseline, Week 6 and Week 12.
Depressive Symptoms as Assessed by the Cornell Scale for Depression in Dementia (CSDD)
This questionnaire has 19 questions and each is scored from 0(absent) to 2(severe). A total score greater than 10 indicates probable major depressive episode and a score of greater than 18 indicates definite major depressive episode
Time frame: Baseline, Week 6 and Week 12.
Cognition as Evaluated by the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE)
Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) includes memory, language, praxis and orientation tasks, yielding a global cognition score ranging 0 to 30, with higher scores indicating better performance.
Time frame: Baseline, Week 6 and Week 12.