Clinical study of treatments to cognitive impairment by repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation combined with donepezil on patients with stroke

Abstract

Objective To investigate the clinical efficacy of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) combined with donepezil in the treatment of post-stroke cognitive impairment (PSCI) patients. Methods Seventy-six PSCI patients, admitted to Department of Neurology Rehabilitation of Suzhou Ruisheng Rehabilitation Hospital from January 2018 to September 2019, were randomly divided into control group (n=38) and experimental group (n=38). Both groups were given routine rehabilitation treatment. In the experimental group, oral donepezil combined with 10 Hz rTMS was added. Before and 4 weeks after treatment, the cognitive function and the ability of daily living of the patients were evaluated by the Montreal cognitive assessment scale (MoCA), concise mental state check table (MMSE), modified Barthel index (MBI). Results The MoCA score, MMSE score and MBI score of the two groups after 4 weeks of treatment were higher than those before treatment, and the MoCA score, MMSE score and MBI score of the experimental group after 4 weeks of treatment were higher than those of the control group, the differences were statistically significant (P<0.05). Conclusion Donepezil combined with rTMS can improve the cognitive dysfunction and daily living ability of PSCI patients on a short period of time. Key words: Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation; Donepezil; Stroke; Cognitive impairment