What did this study find?
Twenty-five randomized trials covering 860 participants were pooled in this 2023 analysis of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation for obsessive-compulsive disorder. The pooled effect was moderate, and treated patients were roughly three times as likely to respond. Greater improvement in depression tracked with greater improvement in obsessive-compulsive symptoms.
What are the details of this record?
- Full citation
- A Meta-analysis of Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation in Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. PubMed. 2023.
- Study design
- Meta-analysis
- Sample size and population
- 860 participants across 25 RCTs
- Evidence grade
- Grade B on the BioReg grading scale
- Reported findings
- Meta-analysis of 25 RCTs (860 participants). rTMS showed moderate therapeutic effect (g = 0.65) and 3-fold increased likelihood of treatment response (RR = 3.15). Greater depression improvement correlated with greater OCD treatment effects.
- DOI
- No DOI recorded
- PubMed
- PMID 37343662
- Related categories
- OCD (category grade B (TMS) / C (PEMF))
A positive PEMF study is not evidence for a specific device unless the signal parameters studied, frequency, intensity, waveform, and exposure duration, are reasonably comparable to what that device produces. Where this record does not list those parameters, the source report did not publish them. See the grading methodology. Library last reviewed 2026-08-27.