Predicting response to rTMS for auditory hallucinations: Younger patients and females do better

The past 15years, many studies investigated the effectiveness of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) for auditory hallucinations (AH). Meta-analyses show effect sizes of 0.3 –0.8, with individual treatment effects ranging from zero to full recovery. In rTMS for depression, similar results prompted researchers to investigate predictors for response. Some of these predictors are younger age, treatment refractoriness (Fregni et al., 2006) and female gender (Kedzior et al ., 2014). We explored whether similar predictors exist in the field of AH.
Source: Schizophrenia Research - Category: Psychiatry Authors: Tags: Letter to the Editor Source Type: research