Tolerability and Blinding of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation in People with Parkinson’s Disease: A Critical Review
Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is accompanied by transient sensations (e.g., tingling, itching, burning), which may affect treatment outcomes or break the blinding of the study protocol. Assessing tolerability and blinding is integral to providing ample evidence of a “real effect” fr...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2020-07-01
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| Series: | Brain Sciences |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3425/10/7/467 |
| _version_ | 1797561853788815360 |
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| author | Craig D. Workman Alexandra C. Fietsam Thorsten Rudroff |
| author_facet | Craig D. Workman Alexandra C. Fietsam Thorsten Rudroff |
| author_sort | Craig D. Workman |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is accompanied by transient sensations (e.g., tingling, itching, burning), which may affect treatment outcomes or break the blinding of the study protocol. Assessing tolerability and blinding is integral to providing ample evidence of a “real effect” from the applied stimulation and dispelling the possibility of placebo effects. People with Parkinson’s disease (PwPD) endure many motor and non-motor symptoms that might be amenable to tDCS. However, because the disease also affects sensation capabilities, these subjects might report tolerability and blinding differently than other cohorts. Therefore, the purpose of this review was to aggregate the tolerability and blinding reports of tDCS studies in PwPD and recommend a standard tolerability and blinding reporting practice. A literature search of the PubMed and Scopus databases from 1 January 2020 to 1 April 2020 was performed to identify publications that applied tDCS to PwPD. Seventy studies were potentially reviewable, but only 36 (nine with quantitative tolerability reports, 20 with qualitative tolerability reports, and seven that only reported blinding) provided sufficient information to be included in the review. Quantitative information on tDCS tolerability and blinding maintenance in PwPD is scarce, and future reviews and metanalyses should carefully consider the possibility of placebo effects in their included studies. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T18:20:29Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-0f4bfbc8b292448f9eea0f3fcdb63bd1 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2076-3425 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T18:20:29Z |
| publishDate | 2020-07-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Brain Sciences |
| spelling | doaj.art-0f4bfbc8b292448f9eea0f3fcdb63bd12023-11-20T07:22:00ZengMDPI AGBrain Sciences2076-34252020-07-0110746710.3390/brainsci10070467Tolerability and Blinding of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation in People with Parkinson’s Disease: A Critical ReviewCraig D. Workman0Alexandra C. Fietsam1Thorsten Rudroff2Department of Health and Human Physiology, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242, USADepartment of Health and Human Physiology, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242, USADepartment of Health and Human Physiology, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242, USATranscranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is accompanied by transient sensations (e.g., tingling, itching, burning), which may affect treatment outcomes or break the blinding of the study protocol. Assessing tolerability and blinding is integral to providing ample evidence of a “real effect” from the applied stimulation and dispelling the possibility of placebo effects. People with Parkinson’s disease (PwPD) endure many motor and non-motor symptoms that might be amenable to tDCS. However, because the disease also affects sensation capabilities, these subjects might report tolerability and blinding differently than other cohorts. Therefore, the purpose of this review was to aggregate the tolerability and blinding reports of tDCS studies in PwPD and recommend a standard tolerability and blinding reporting practice. A literature search of the PubMed and Scopus databases from 1 January 2020 to 1 April 2020 was performed to identify publications that applied tDCS to PwPD. Seventy studies were potentially reviewable, but only 36 (nine with quantitative tolerability reports, 20 with qualitative tolerability reports, and seven that only reported blinding) provided sufficient information to be included in the review. Quantitative information on tDCS tolerability and blinding maintenance in PwPD is scarce, and future reviews and metanalyses should carefully consider the possibility of placebo effects in their included studies.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3425/10/7/467tDCStolerabilityblindingParkinson’s disease |
| spellingShingle | Craig D. Workman Alexandra C. Fietsam Thorsten Rudroff Tolerability and Blinding of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation in People with Parkinson’s Disease: A Critical Review Brain Sciences tDCS tolerability blinding Parkinson’s disease |
| title | Tolerability and Blinding of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation in People with Parkinson’s Disease: A Critical Review |
| title_full | Tolerability and Blinding of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation in People with Parkinson’s Disease: A Critical Review |
| title_fullStr | Tolerability and Blinding of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation in People with Parkinson’s Disease: A Critical Review |
| title_full_unstemmed | Tolerability and Blinding of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation in People with Parkinson’s Disease: A Critical Review |
| title_short | Tolerability and Blinding of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation in People with Parkinson’s Disease: A Critical Review |
| title_sort | tolerability and blinding of transcranial direct current stimulation in people with parkinson s disease a critical review |
| topic | tDCS tolerability blinding Parkinson’s disease |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3425/10/7/467 |
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