우울증을 동반한 알코올 의존 환자에서 rTMS 사용시 기분증상의 개선 정도에 대한 예비연구

Abstract

Objectives：Recently, repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation(rTMS) has been used clinically in the treatment of refractory mood disorder, schizophrenia and anxiety disorder. There are many alcohol dependent patients who suffer from depression. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the effects of rTMS on depression in alcohol dependent patients. Methods：Sixteen alcohol dependent patients with depression(16 males ; age range : 30-61 ; mean age : 45.06± 8.83 years)were given rTMS on the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex at a high frequency(10 Hz) for 10-minute-durations each day for 2weeks. Before rTMS was applied, patients had been screened by using a Transcranial magnetic stimulation adult safety screen(TASS, Keel et al) to exclude contraindication. We evaluated changes in BDI and HRSD scores between pre- and post-rTMS treatment. Results：While the mean BDI and HRSD score were 21.56±7.81, 17.81±6.68 before rTMS, after rTMS the mean BDI and HRSD score went down to 9.44±7.34, 3.81±2.59. Accordingly, the difference in score between pre- ; and post-rTMS was statistically significant in both BDI(t=6.86, p=0.000) and HRSD(t=9.92, p=0.000). Conclusion：These results suggest that rTMS seems to be effective for the treatment of depressive symptoms of alcohol dependent patients. However, we didn’t have a control group which was given false stimulation(a placebo). The sample size of the study was too small. The next study complements these limitations of this study and will need further research.