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SYSTEMATIC REVIEW article

Front. Psychiatry
Sec. Sleep Disorders
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2025.1511930

The Effect of Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation on Sleep Quality in Patients with More Than Mild Depressive Moods: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Provisionally accepted
Yu'ang Liu Yu'ang Liu 1Silang ' Huang Silang ' Huang 2*Xinxin Zhang Xinxin Zhang 1Huangying Liao Huangying Liao 3*Weiguo Liu Weiguo Liu 1*Zhi Zhang Zhi Zhang 1*Xianhui Qu Xianhui Qu 1*
  • 1 College of Physical Education and Health, Guangxi Normal University., Guilin, China
  • 2 Guilin University, Guilin, Guangxi, China., Guilin, China
  • 3 Guangxi Normal University, Guilin,Guangxi, China., Guilin, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Backgroud: The purpose of this study was to systematically evaluate the effica cy of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation therapy on sleep quality in pa tients with more than mild depressive moods. Methods: Randomized controlled trials in PubMed, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, Embase, Scopus, and Sc iencedirect for repeated transcranial magnetic stimulation to improve sleep quali ty in patients with more than mild depressive moods up to September 2023 w ere searched. Meta-analysis was performed using RevMan 5.4 and Stata17.0 sof tware. Results: A total of 11 studies, 548 patients, were included. After repeate d transcranial magnetic stimulation treatment, the effect of sleep quality improv ement in patients with more than mild depressive moods was better in the exp erimental group than in the control group (I 2 = 53%; MD = -2.27; 95%CI, -2. 97 to -1.57; P < 0.00001). The results of subgroup analysis showed that in ter ms of stimulation frequency, compared to the 5hz groupand and the 10hz grou p, the treatment effect of the 1hz group (I 2 = 32%; MD = -2.69; 95%CI, -3.7 8 to -1.60; P < 0.00001) was better. In terms of treatment duration, compared to the two-week group and the four-week group , the group of more than four weeks (I 2 = 0%; MD = -2.81; 95%CI,-3.22 to -2.40; P < 0.00001) had better treatment outcomes. In terms of whether combination therapy was used or not, 3 / 23 compared to the combination therapy group (I 2 = 29%; MD = -1.39; 95%CI, -2.30 to -0.48; P = 0.003), the non-combination therapy group (I 2 = 0%; MD = -2.93; 95%CI, -3.36 to -2.50; P < 0.00001) treatment group had a better treatment effect. Conclusion: Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation significantly improves sleep quality in patients with more than mild depression, Subgro up analyses showed that the group using 1hz stimulation frequency, the group with more than four weeks of treatment time, and the group with rTMS alone had better efficacy in treating sleep quality of patients with more than mild d epressive moods with repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation.

    Keywords: repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation, Depressive moods, sleep quality, Meta-analysis, review

    Received: 16 Oct 2024; Accepted: 13 Jan 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 Liu, Huang, Zhang, Liao, Liu, Zhang and Qu. 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:
    Silang ' Huang, Guilin University, Guilin, Guangxi, China., Guilin, China
    Huangying Liao, Guangxi Normal University, Guilin,Guangxi, China., Guilin, China
    Weiguo Liu, College of Physical Education and Health, Guangxi Normal University., Guilin, China
    Zhi Zhang, College of Physical Education and Health, Guangxi Normal University., Guilin, China
    Xianhui Qu, College of Physical Education and Health, Guangxi Normal University., Guilin, China

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