Transcranial direct current stimulation in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder: a meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials

Efficacy and safety of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) in the treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) were explored by meta-analysis. Four electronic databases (Cochrane, PubMed, Embase, Web of Science) were retrieved at 25/06/23. From our inclusion criteria, seven studies (<i>N</i> = 201 patients) were included, and we performed a meta-analysis using Stata15.0. Results suggested that the total Y-BOCS (Yale-Brown obsessive com-pulsive scale<b>)</b> scale was significantly lower in patients with OCD after tDCS treatment [SMD= −0.46, 95%CI (−0.84, −0.07), I²=39%, <i>p</i> = 0.02, Grade: high]. Subgroup analysis showed statistically significant results when treatment duration ≤ 20 days [SMD= −0.95, 95%CI (–1.80, −0.10), <i>p</i> = 0.03]. Moreover, tDCS and sham tDCS-treated OCD patients showed neither significantly different depressive symptoms nor significantly different adverse events [RR= −0.21, 95%CI (−0.58, 0.15), <i>p</i> = 0.25, Grade: moderate] and [RR = 3.98, 95%CI (0.04, 374.99), <i>p</i> = 0.55, Grade: very low], respectively. tDCS maybe reduce the Y-BOCS total scores in OCD patients and depressive symptoms, but for adverse reactions. the results are inconclusive.