Related Experiment Video
Updated: Mar 19, 2026
Protocol for Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation with Symptom Provocation to Treat Obsessive-compulsive Disorder
Published on: November 25, 2025
Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation for Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: An Updated Systematic Review and Meta-analysis
Alisson Paulino Trevizol1, Pedro Shiozawa, Ian A Cook
1From the *Interdisciplinary Center for Clinical Neuromodulation, Santa Casa School of Medical Sciences, São Paulo, Brazil; †Neuromodulation Division, Departments of Psychiatry and Bioengineering, University of California, Los Angeles, CA; ‡Neuropsychiatric Institute, Prince of Wales Hospital, Sydney, Australia; and §Institute of Psychiatry, Kolkata, India.
Background:
Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is a promising noninvasive brain stimulation intervention. Transcranial magnetic stimulation has been proposed for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) with auspicious results.
Objective:
To assess the efficacy of TMS for OCD in randomized clinical trials (RCTs).
Methods:
Systematic review using MEDLINE and EMBASE from the first RCT available until March 11, 2016. The main outcome was the Hedges g for continuous scores for Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale in a random-effects model. Heterogeneity was evaluated with the I and the χ test. Publication bias was evaluated using the Begg funnel plot. Metaregression was performed using the random-effects model modified by Knapp and Hartung.
Results:
We included 15 RCTs (n = 483), most had small-to-modest sample sizes. Comparing active versus sham TMS, active stimulation was significantly superior for OCD symptoms (Hedges g = 0.45; 95% confidence interval, 0.2-0.71). The funnel plot showed that the risk of publication bias was low and between-study heterogeneity was low (I = 43%, P = 0.039 for the χ test). Metaregression showed no particular influence of any variable on the results.
Conclusions:
Transcranial magnetic stimulation active was superior to sham stimulation for the amelioration of OCD symptoms. Trials had moderate heterogeneity results, despite different protocols of stimulation used. Further RCTs with larger sample sizes are fundamentally needed to clarify the precise impact of TMS in OCD symptoms.
More Related Videos
08:20MRI-guided dmPFC-rTMS as a Treatment for Treatment-resistant Major Depressive Disorder
Published on: August 11, 2015
09:14Exploring the Neural Correlates of Cognitive Reappraisal in Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder Using Task-based Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Published on: March 14, 2025