• Angelo Alonzo, Joanna Fong, Nicola Ball, Donel Martin, Nicholas Chand, and Colleen Loo.
• School of Psychiatry, University of New South Wales/Black Dog Institute, Hospital Road, Randwick, NSW 2031, Australia. Electronic address: a.alonzo@unsw.edu.au.
• J Affect Disord. 2019 Jun 1; 252: 475-483.

BackgroundTranscranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) is a non-invasive, neuromodulation approach with promising efficacy for treating depression. To date, tDCS has been limited to clinical or research centre settings with treatment administered by staff. The aim of this study is to examine the efficacy, tolerability and feasibility of home-administered, remotely-supervised tDCS for depression.MethodsIn an open label trial, 34 participants used a Soterix 1 × 1 mini-CT device to self-administer 20-28 tDCS sessions (2 mA, 30 min, F3-anode and F8-cathode montage according to 10-20 EEG placement) over 4 weeks followed by a taper phase of 4 sessions 1 week apart. Participants were initially monitored via video link and then through completion of an online treatment diary. Mixed effects repeated measures analyses assessed change in mood scores.ResultsMood improved significantly from baseline (27.47 on Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale) to 1 month after the end of acute treatment (15.48) (p < 0.001). Side effects were largely transient and minor. Outcomes were comparable to those reported in clinic-based trials. Protocol adherence was excellent with a drop-out rate of 6% and 93% of scheduled sessions completed.LimitationsThe tDCS and remote monitoring procedures employed in this study require a level of manual dexterity and computer literacy, which may be challenging for some patients. This study did not have a control condition.ConclusionsThis study provides initial evidence that home-based, remotely-supervised tDCS treatment may be efficacious and feasible for depressed patients and has high translational potential.Copyright © 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

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