Anhedonia in Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) is Reduced by Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS)

Author Info

Renée Morey Saxby Pridmore Tamara May

Corresponding Author

Saxby Pridmore
Professor of Psychiatry, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia

A B S T R A C T

Background: TMS is effective in the treatment of MDD. It is time and resource intensive and there is not means of predicting the eventual outcome of a course. Objective: To determine whether the change in subjective anhedonia from pre- to mid-treatment is an indicator of the eventual outcome. Methods: Naturalistic study – before and on completion of the course, the six-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAMD6) and a complementary six-item visual analogue scale (VAS6), with a further VAS6 administered after 10 treatments. Change in subjective anhedonia (pre- minus mid-treatment VAS6 Item 2 scores) assessed as predictor of outcome. Results: Change in subjective anhedonia predicted the ultimate outcome (post-treatment HAMD6 total score). Conclusions: A replication study is justified. Change in subjective outcome may predict the outcome of treatment – potentially alerting to the need to modify the treatment strategy for optimal effect.

Article Info

Article Type

Research Article

Publication history

Received: Wed 08, Jan 2020
Accepted: Thu 30, Jan 2020
Published: Mon 03, Feb 2020

Copyright

© 2023 Saxby Pridmore. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Hosting by Science Repository.
DOI: 10.31487/j.NNB.2020.01.03