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SYSTEMATIC REVIEW article
Front. Neurol.
Sec. Dementia and Neurodegenerative Diseases
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fneur.2025.1556506
This article is part of the Research Topic Neuroinflammation, Neurodegeneration, and Auditory-Vestibular Disorders View all 5 articles
Effectiveness of transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation in improving cognitive function in older adults with cognitive impairment: A systematic review and meta-analysis
Provisionally accepted- 1 Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, Faculty of Health and Social Sciences, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Kowloon, Hong Kong, SAR China
- 2 Research Centre for Chinese Medicine Innovation, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Kowloon, Hong Kong, SAR China
Background: Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS), which involves the application of electrical stimulation to peripheral nerves, is used to improve or maintain cognitive function. Although many studies have examined the effect of TENS on cognition over the past 20 years, a comprehensive review and meta-analysis on this topic is lacking. This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of TENS in improving cognitive function in older adults with cognitive impairment.Methods: A systematic search was performed in six electronic databases (CINAHL, Cochrane Library, Embase, Medline, PubMed, and Web of Science) to identify relevant studies published until May 2024. Moreover, the registered clinical trials, forward citation searches, and reference lists of identified publications were reviewed to identify additional relevant studies. Randomised controlled trials investigating the effect of TENS on cognitive function in older adults with cognitive impairment were included.Results: Seven studies including 247 older adults with cognitive impairment were included. The findings revealed a trend towards positive effects of TENS on face recognition memory (mean difference [MD] = 1.19, 95% confidence interval [CI] = -0.13 to 2.52) and verbal fluency (standardised MD [SMD] = 0.29, 95% CI = -0.01 to 0.59) when compared with placebo stimulation (control condition). TENS demonstrated a significant positive delayed effect on visual memory (SMD = 0.55, 95% CI = 0.11 to 0.98). Subgroup analysis indicated that TENS applied on the concha was more effective than that applied on the spinal column and earlobe in improving verbal memory in the delayed condition.A positive trend of immediate effect and a significant long-term effect on some cognitive domains were found after applying TENS in in older adults with cognitive impairment. Future studies with robust experimental designs and adequate sample sizes are warranted to investigate the efficacy of TENS in improving cognitive function.
Keywords: Cognitive Function, older adults, cognitive impairment, Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation, Meta-analysis
Received: 07 Jan 2025; Accepted: 07 Apr 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Chan and Ng. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Shamay S.M. Ng, Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, Faculty of Health and Social Sciences, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Kowloon, QT512, Hong Kong, SAR China
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.