Therapeutic effect of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation for refractory negative symptom of schizophrenia

Objective To explore the therapeutic effects of left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex(DLPFC)repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation(rTMS)for refractory negative symptom of schizophrenic.Methods Forty-one schizophrenia patients with refractory negative symptom were recruited.The patients were randomly divided into observation group(n=21)which was treated with 10 Hz rTMS at DLPFC for twenty times,and control group(n=20)which was treated with false rTMS.The type and dose of original antipsychotic drugs were unchanged during treatment period.Clinical symptom was measured with the positive and negative symptom scale(PANSS).Side effects were evaluated with the treatment emergent symptom scale(TESS).Results The negative symptoms scores after treatment of observation group were significantly lower than before treatment(P0.05).Reduction of negative symptoms score in observation group was 3.7±1.4,which was higher than that in control group(1.5±1.1)(P0.05).The effective rate of observation group was higher than that of control group(52.4% vs20.0%,P0.05).No obvious side effects of rTMS were observed.Conclusion It may be effective for combination of 10 Hz rTMS and antipsychotics to treat schizophrenia with refractory negative symptom.