A multisite observational real-world study on the effectiveness of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation therapy for patients with treatment-resistant depression in Japan

The objective of this study was to reveal the effectiveness of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) for Japanese patients with treatment-resistant depression (TRD) in clinical practice, based on real-world data from a nationwide multicenter observational study in Japan. Clinical data of patients with TRD treated with rTMS (NeuroStar TMS treatment system) under public insurance coverage were retrospectively collected from 21 institutes nationwide between June 2019 and December 2023. Depression severity was assessed by the 17-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAMD-17). Response and remission were defined as ≥50 % reduction from baseline and ≤7 points on the HAMD-17, respectively. The primary outcome was the changes in the HAMD-17 score from baseline to the endpoint following rTMS. Data from 497 patients with TRD were candidates for this study. The HAMD-17 scores (mean (SD)) improved significantly from 18.9 (5.3) to 9.7 (6.6), respectively. The response and remission rates at the end of rTMS therapy as assessed by the HAMD-17 were 53.5 % and 42.8 %, respectively. The dropout rate due to adverse effects was 4.2 %, and the treatment was generally well tolerated. No convulsive seizures or manic changes were observed. These results indicate that conventional rTMS is effective and safe in Japanese patients with TRD.