An interventional study of Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation in Schizophrenia and Related Disorders, sponsored by National Taiwan University Hospital. Recruiting at 1 site in Taiwan. Open to participants aged 20 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-01-22.
Sponsored by National Taiwan University Hospital · Not applicable, Interventional, and Treatment
Around 40% of schizophrenia patients present depressive symptoms, which are associated with elevated suicide and violence risk and poor prognosis and quality of life. Recent meta-analysis showed the effect size of antidepressants for depressive symptoms of schizophrenia patients was as low as 0.25, so new therapeutic approach is warranted.
Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) is a non-invasive, anesthesia-free brain stimulation therapy for treatment refractory depression. Currently, rTMS is classified as high-frequency stimulation (>5Hz, usually 10Hz or 20Hz) and low-frequency inhibition (usually 1Hz). Intermittent theta burst stimulation (iTBS) is a new variant of rTMS, with stimulation frequency as high as 50Hz. Compared with high-frequency rTMS, iTBS has similar therapeutic effect and shorter stimulation duration. Up to now, studies exploring treatment effect of rTMS or iTBS for schizophrenia patients mainly focused on negative symptoms rather than depressive symptoms. Therefore, this study aims to explore treatment effect of rTMS or iTBS of depressive symptoms, negative symptoms, cognitive function and physiological indices for schizophrenia patients.
3,471 studies on the registry are indexed under Schizophrenia; 472 are open to participants now.
This study's planned enrollment of 180 is above the median of 70 across 2,872 interventional studies indexed under Schizophrenia.
Browse Schizophrenia studies →National Taiwan University Hospital is the lead sponsor of 2,563 studies on the registry; 569 are open to participants now.
Of its 11 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 2 (18%) have results posted.
Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.
Exclusion Criteria:
target: left DLPFC protocol: 10Hz for 4 seconds, 120% motor threshold, 75 trains with 26-second interval, 3000 pulses per session, one session per day, five sessions per week, two weeks in total
Device: Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation
target: left DLPFC protocol: 3 pulses at 50Hz, 90% motor threshold, repeated at 5Hz, 60 trains of 10 bursts with 8-second intervals, 1800 pulses per session, one session per day, five sessions per week, two weeks in total
Device: Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation
target: left DLPFC sham probe, the same protocol as active conventional rTMS
Device: Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation
target: left DLPFC sham probe, the same protocol as active iTBS
Device: Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation
rTMS using Magstim TMS system is delivered at the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex
Change from Baseline in Calgary Depression Scale for Schizophrenia
A 9-item scale developed for detecting major depressive episode for schizophrenia patients. Total score ranges from 0 to 27. Lower score indicates less depressive symptoms. A cut-off of 7 points yields to sensitivity of 85% and specificity of 82%.
Time frame: baseline (Day 1), Day 8, Day 15, Day 29, Day 57, Day 85
Change from Baseline in Positive and Negative syndrome scale
A 30-item scale developed to evaluating positive, negative and general symptoms for schizophrenia patients. Total score ranges from 30 to 210. Lower score indicates fewer schizophrenic symptoms.
Time frame: baseline (Day 1), Day 8, Day 15, Day 29, Day 57, Day 85
Change from Baseline in Negative symptoms assessment 16
A scale developed to evaluating negative symptoms for schizophrenia patients. Items are scored based on behaviors during the interview (items 1-4, 6, 7, 9, 11, 15, 16) or previous 7 days (items 5, 8, 10, 12-14) on a 6-point scale from 1 to 6. The NSA-16 domain scores are the sum of item scores in each domain i.e. communication (min score 4, max score 24), emotion/affect (min 3, max 18), social involvement (min 3, max 18), motivation (min 4, max 24), and retardation (min 2, max 12); with higher scores denoting more severe negative symptoms in schizophrenia.
Time frame: baseline (Day 1), Day 8, Day 15, Day 29, Day 57, Day 85
Change from Baseline in Clinical global impression
A scale for primary-care psychiatrist to evaluate global symptom severity of a patient in comparison with others with same diagnosis. Lower score indicates less severe illness.
Time frame: baseline (Day 1), Day 8, Day 15, Day 29, Day 57, Day 85
Change from Baseline in Self-Reported Graphic version of the Personal and Social Performance Scale
A 22-item self-rated scale for schizophrenia patients, which includes four domains, i.e., global function (6 items, total scores 6-18), personal and social performance (5 items, total scores 5-15), self-care (6 items, total scores 6-18) and disturbing behaviors (5 items, total scores 5-15). Lower score indicates less severe illness.
Time frame: baseline (Day 1), Day 8, Day 15, Day 29, Day 57, Day 85
Change from Baseline in Physiological Parameters - Heart Rate Variability
Measurement of parasympathetic activity.
Time frame: baseline (Day 1), Day 8, Day 15, Day 29, Day 57, Day 85
Change from Baseline in Physiological Parameters - Skin Conductance
Measurement of sympathetic activity.
Time frame: baseline (Day 1), Day 8, Day 15, Day 29, Day 57, Day 85
Change from Baseline in Physiological Parameters - Body Temperature
Measurement of autonomic nervous system.
Time frame: baseline (Day 1), Day 8, Day 15, Day 29, Day 57, Day 85
Change from Baseline in Physiological Parameters - Respiratory Rate
Measurement of autonomic nervous system.
Time frame: baseline (Day 1), Day 8, Day 15, Day 29, Day 57, Day 85
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National Taiwan University Hospital