The effectiveness of intervention of Electroconvulsive therapy and transcranial direct current stimulation on Depression in veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of intervention of Electroconvulsive therapy and transcranial direct current stimulation on Depression in veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder.

The present study was a quasi-experimental study and its research design was pre-test and post-test with a control group. Sixty PTSD veterans of Ahvaz Bustan Psychiatric Hospital participated in the present study as a sample and were randomly divided into three groups: electroconvulsive therapy, transcranial direct current stimulation and control. Experimental groups underwent treatment for 10 sessions. In the pre-test and post-test stages, all participants completed the Beck Depression Inventory. Data were analyzed using one-way ANOVA and Bonferroni post hoc test. Significance level was considered p <0.05.

There was no significant difference between the groups in the pre-test stage (p = 0.639) but in the post-test stage there was a significant difference between the groups (p = 0.001). The results of Bonferroni post hoc test showed that there was a significant difference between ECT group with tDCS (p = 0.001) and ECT with control (p = 0.0001) and tDCS with control (p = 0.0001).

Using ECT and tDCS approach can improve depression in veterans with PTSD. Using ECT is also more effective than tDCS to.