The Effectiveness of TranscranialDirect Current Stimulation (TDCS) on Anxiety, Depression, and Physical Symptoms of People with Chronic Pain

Abstract

Introduction: Chronic pain and the experience of living with it are unique. Individual perception of pain is affected by physical, psychological, and social variables. This study aimed to determine the effectiveness of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) on anxiety and depression and physical symptoms of patients with chronic pain.Method: This study was a semi-experimental study with pre-test, post-test, and follow-up with the control group. The statistical population of the study included all outpatients of men and women referred to all medical centers in Tehran in 2019 who had received a definitive diagnosis of chronic pain by neurologists, rheumatologists and psychiatrists, and other relevant specialists. The sampling method in this study had two stages: first, through available sampling, selected from several women with a definite diagnosis of chronic pain, and then, based on inclusion criteria and conducting a pre-test session with interviews. A clinical trial conducted by a researcher under the supervision of a psychiatrist based on DSM-5 diagnostic criteria, 30 women (15 for each group) of women who had the highest scores (as baseline) after completion The questionnaires were selected by simple random sampling method and after random allocation, they were replaced in two groups of intervention and control. Data were obtained using the Beck depression questionnaire and the Beck anxiety questionnaire. Repeated variance analysis was used to analyze the data. The above analysis was carried out using SPSS.22 software.Results: The results showed that the effectiveness of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) was effective on anxiety and depression and physical symptoms of people with chronic pain.Conclusion: It can be concluded that transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is effective in reducing anxiety, depression, and physical symptoms of people with chronic pain and can be used to improve psychological problems in people with chronic pain.