Impact of Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation on Cognitive and Psychiatric Dysfunction in Patients with Fibromyalgia: A Double-Blinded, Randomized Clinical Trial

Few randomized controlled trials have reported that repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) has controversial results for managing multiple domains of fibromyalgia-related symptoms. This work aimed to evaluate the effect of low-frequency rTMS over the right dorsolateral prefrontal area (DLPFC) on the Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire (FIQ) concerning psychiatric and cognitive disorders. Forty-two eligible patients with fibromyalgia (FM) were randomized to have 20 sessions of active or sham rTMS (1 Hz, 120% of resting motor threshold with a total of 1200 pules/session) over the right DLPFC. All participants were evaluated at baseline, post sessions, and 3 months after sessions with the FIQ, Hamilton depression, and anxiety rating scales (HDRS and HARS), Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT), Tower of London test (TOL), the Trail Making, and Digit Span Tests. Both groups showed improvement in most rating scales at 1 and 3 months follow-up, with greater improvement in the active group, with significant correlation between FIQ cognitive rating scales, including RAVLT and TOL. Twenty sessions of low-frequency rTMS over the right DLPFC can improve FIQ scores regarding the psychiatric and cognitive symptoms of medicated patients with FM to a greater extent than sham. Changes in RAVLT and TOL correlated with changes in FIQ results.