Immediate and long-term effects of transcranial direct current stimulation on pain relief in older adults with Alzheimer's disease and related dementias: A pilot study.
Chiyoung Lee, Juyoung Park, Mindy Fain and 3 others
PMID 40184901WHAT IT FOUND
Older adults with dementia and chronic pain who used home tDCS and started in high pain had a 47.1% chance of moving to low pain after five days; sham had none.
At one month, sham also had some transitions, and probabilities were not tested.
Key findings
01In the active tDCS group, participants with high pain at baseline had a 47.1% probability of moving to low pain immediately after intervention completion, while the sham group had no transitions.
02Between immediate post-intervention and 1-month follow-up, active high-pain participants had a 44.3% probability of moving to low pain, while sham high-pain participants had a 39.2% probability.
03From 1 to 3 months, active high-pain participants had a 58.4% likelihood of moving to low pain, while sham participants showed essentially no likelihood of transitioning between statuses.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The study was a pilot with 40 participants, so the findings are preliminary and may not apply to more diverse or more severely affected older adults. The main transition probabilities were descriptive and not tested for statistical significance, so they cannot be treated as proven treatment effects. The sample was mostly White and well-educated, which limits how much the results can be generalized. The analysis used only low-pain and high-pain statuses, so smaller changes, such as moving from high to moderate pain, may have been missed. The study did not identify which participant characteristics predicted pain improvement or regression. Medication use or new pain treatments may have influenced the results, and the study did not test these factors. Follow-up stopped at 3 months, so longer-term effects are unknown. The report does not state how many participants dropped out or how many completed each follow-up visit.
Declared interests
The authors declared no known competing financial interests. The article metadata lists NIH extramural research support.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that home tDCS is an established pain treatment for older adults with dementia. The study was a small pilot, the transition probabilities were not tested for statistical significance, and some sham participants also moved to lower pain at follow-up.