The Comparison of the Effectiveness of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation and Neurofeedback Therapy on Sleep Quality in the Elderly

Due to physical and mental deficiencies in the elderly, choosing a right treatment approach can effectively improve their health and psychological problems . Therefore, the present study was to compare the effectiveness of transcranial direct current stimulation (TDCS) and neurofeedback therapy (NT) on sleep quality of the elderly . The research method was semi-experimental with pretest-posttest design and a control group . The statistical population included all the elderly who referred to counseling centers in Tehran in 2019 , Among whom 45 people (60 to 70 years old) who were eligible according to inclusion and exclusion criteria were selected using convenience sampling and randomly assigned into two experimental groups (TDCS and NT) and a control group in the same proportion . Petersburg’s Sleep Quality Questionnaire was used to collect data . The first experimental group was provided with TDCS using the brain electrical stimulation device II Dose A and the second experimental group was provided with NT using the neurofeedback device  0 .5 Ver A7990SA. The control group was placed on the waiting list for two months to receive the intervention . The data obtained from the research were analyzed using univariate covariance analysis (ANCOVA) in SPSS26 software. The results illustrated that both TDCS and NT were effective in improving the sleep quality of the elderly. However, there was a significant difference between the effectiveness of these two treatment methods on improving sleep quality (P<0.001), in the way that NT is more effective than TDCS in improving the sleep quality of the elderly . Based on the findings of this research, TDCS and NT can be used as an effective intervention method to improve the sleep quality of the elderly .