Atefe Ashrafi
University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences, Iran
Title: The effect of tDCS on fatigue of multiple sclerosis patients: A systematic review of randomized controlled clinical trials
Biography
Biography: Atefe Ashrafi
Abstract
Introduction & Aim: Fatigue is a common debilitating symptom in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) affecting more than 75% of patients associated with functional disability. Despite the prevalence of this symptom in patients with MS, no general consensus exists on the effectiveness of available treatments. This study was conducted to systematically review published evidence to evaluate the effects of trans-cranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) as a new method on fatigue symptom in patients with MS.
Material & Methods: A comprehensive literature search of published studies from 2000 to 2017 in the PubMed and Google Scholar with key words: tDCS, multiple sclerosis and fatigue was performed. 235 studies were found with the defined criteria and 11 of them were chosen to be reviewed in this study.
Results: The results from the literature are contradictory in terms of the effectiveness of the method. About nine studies reported positive effects of tDCS on patients with MS and two reported no differences.
Conclusion: Regarding to the contradictory results among different studies it seems difficult to conclude that tDCS is an effective approach in the treatment of fatigue in patients with MS. However further large scale well designed studies are needed.