Journal of International Psychiatry

Objective This study aimed to compare the difference in the severity of depression and cognitive function among elderly depressed patients with and without the treatment of repeated transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS). Methods 92 elderly patients with cognitive impairment of depression were randomly divided into two groups. 46 patients in the observation group were treated with rTMS combined with escitalopram oxalate, and 46 patients in the control group were treated with escitalopram oxalate. Cognitive function and depressive symptoms were assessed using Montreal Cognitive Assessment Scale（MoCA） and Hamiltons Depression Scale（HAMD） at the before and 4-weeks after treatment, respectively. The efficacy of the treatment was assessed by HAMD subtraction rate. The correlation between rTMS treatment and cognitive function was estimated. Results The total effective rate of the observation group and the control group was 93.47% and 89.13%, respectively. The effective rate in the observation group was significantly higher than that in the control group, and the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05). There was no significant difference in HAMD and MoCA scores between the observation group and the control group before treatment (P>0.05), but HAMD score in the observation group was significantly lower than that in the control group after treatment (P<0.05). MoCA score in the observation group was significantly higher than that in the control group (P<0.05). Conclusion rTMS combined with medication can improve cognitive function and depressive symptoms in elderly patients with cognitive impairment of depression better than medication alone.

Key words senile depression; Cognitive impairment; Hamilton Depression Scale; Montreal Cognitive Assessment Scale