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Adjuvant transcranial direct current stimulation for treating Alzheimer's disease: A case study
Andrade SM, de Mendonça CTPL, Pereira TCL, Fernandez-Calvo B, Araújo RCN, Alves NT.. Dementia & neuropsychologia, 2016-04-01
Topic: Amyloid, tau and blood-test diagnosis
We report the case of a 73-year-old male patient with Alzheimer's disease who underwent 10-daily transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) sessions. tDCS was applied over the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex as an adjuvant to the traditional treatment that the patient was receiving, which consisted of anticholinergic medication and cognitive training. The data were qualitatively analyzed and are presented in an analytic and structured form. The effects on cognitive performance were evaluated using the Alzheimer's Disease Assessment Scale-cognitive subscale as the primary outcome. Secondary outcomes were assessed with a set of tests consisting of the Neuropsychiatric Inventory, the Blessed Dementia Scale and the Disability Assessment for Dementia. The data obtained revealed that the application of tDCS had a stabilizing effect on overall patient cognitive function and led to improved performance on all the secondary outcome tests. These preliminary results indicate that tDCS is a potential adjuvant therapeutic tool for cognitive rehabilitation in Alzheimer's disease .
Key findings
- The data obtained revealed that the application of tDCS had a stabilizing effect on overall patient cognitive function and led to improved performance on all the secondary outcome tests.
- These preliminary results indicate that tDCS is a potential adjuvant therapeutic tool for cognitive rehabilitation in Alzheimer's disease .
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Study details
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 45/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal. Scored zero for study design, sample size, effect reported and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it. We have no data on journal's citation record, times cited, citations per year, impact for its field and year, cited by studies here, still being cited, senior author's track record, institution's track record and multi-centre collaboration, so those were left out: it earned 26 of the 58 points we could judge it on, which is 45 out of 100.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (Dementia & neuropsychologia) |
| Journal's citation record | — / 4 | No journal record from OpenAlex — left out of this score |
| Study design | 0 / 12 | No study design recorded — scores zero, not guessed (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Strength of evidence | 1 / 5 | Rated “low” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 1 / 5 | 2016 — within 20 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 0 / 4 | Participant count not stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Studied in people | 3 / 3 | Studied in people (pubmed indexes it as a clinical or observational study) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | — / 7 | No citation count (not found in OpenAlex) — left out of this score |
| Citations per year | — / 5 | No citation count or no year — left out of this score |
| Impact for its field and year | — / 6 | No field-weighted citation impact (OpenAlex has none yet) — left out of this score |
| Cited by studies here | — / 6 | Not yet checked against this library's citation graph — left out of this score |
| Still being cited | — / 4 | No yearly citation counts — left out of this score |
| Senior author's track record | — / 4 | Senior author's record not available — left out of this score |
| Institution's track record | — / 3 | No institution listed in OpenAlex — left out of this score |
| Multi-centre collaboration | — / 3 | Institutions not listed — left out of this score |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 29213448) |
| Free to read | 2 / 2 | Free to read |
| Points | 26 / 58 | Scored on 11 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 26 of the 58 points we could judge it on is 45 out of 100. |
| Total | 45 / 100 | — |
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APA 7th
Andrade, S. M., de Mendonça, C. T. P. L., Pereira, T. C. L., Fernandez-Calvo, B., Araújo, R. C. N., & Alves, N. T. (2016). Adjuvant transcranial direct current stimulation for treating Alzheimer's disease: A case study. Dementia & neuropsychologia. https://doi.org/10.1590/s1980-5764-2016dn1002013
Vancouver
Andrade SM, de Mendonça CTPL, Pereira TCL, Fernandez-Calvo B, Araújo RCN, Alves NT. Adjuvant transcranial direct current stimulation for treating Alzheimer's disease: A case study. Dementia & neuropsychologia. 2016. doi:10.1590/s1980-5764-2016dn1002013. PMID: 29213448.
BibTeX
@article{andrade2016-29213448,
author = {Andrade, S. M. and de Mendonça, C. T. P. L. and Pereira, T. C. L. and Fernandez-Calvo, B. and Araújo, R. C. N. and Alves, N. T.},
title = {{Adjuvant transcranial direct current stimulation for treating Alzheimer's disease: A case study}},
journal = {Dementia \& neuropsychologia},
year = {2016},
doi = {10.1590/s1980-5764-2016dn1002013},
pmid = {29213448},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1590/s1980-5764-2016dn1002013}
}