Fibromyalgia & musculoskeletal pain
Home-Based Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation vs Placebo for Fibromyalgia: A Randomized Clinical Trial
Errata to this article were published (JAMA Netw Open, 1 Jul 2025 ↗ · 1 Oct 2025 ↗)
Primary result · MPII reduction (linear mixed-effects models)Result — go to the resultMean difference 22.68% 95% CI 12.79%–40.00%Authors' conclusion
This trial found that A-tDCS along with exercise and PNE improved disability due to pain, especially in placebo test responders.
Study context
- Population
- Women aged 18 to 65 years with FM, treated at home and at the outpatient Clinical Research Center of Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre, Brazilall female
- Participants
- 112 women
- Comparison
- Home-based anodal transcranial direct current stimulation (A-tDCS) on left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) vs sham tDCS, both with exercise and pain neuroscience education (PNE), for 4 weeks
- A-tDCSn = 56
- Sham tDCSn = 56reference
- Primary endpoint
- Change in Multidimensional Pain Interference Index (MPII), measured by the Brief Pain Inventory
- Follow-up
- treatment end and 3-month follow-up
Methodological detailsdouble-blind, sham-controlled, home-based, Randomised April 2022 to April 2024; ITT analyses July to December 2024
- Double-blind
- Sham-controlled
- Home-based
- Randomised April 2022 to April 2024; ITT analyses July to December 2024
Primary result
MPII reduction (linear mixed-effects models)
Mean difference
22.68%
95% CI 12.79%–40.00%
By group
A-tDCSvs Sham tDCS
mean difference 22.68% (95% CI 12.79%–40.00%)
As reported in the abstract
Further findings
| Outcome | A-tDCS | Sham tDCS | MD (95% CI) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MPII reduction in placebo responders (subgroup) | 34.21% (95% CI −46.88%–-28.29%) | 18.13% (95% CI −24.90%–3.34%) | 24.23% (15.80%–32.67%) | |
| MPII reduction in placebo nonresponders (subgroup) | 35.49% (95% CI −41.21%–-29.53%) | 25.96% (95% CI −34.31%–-20.42%) | 9.52% (2.79%–19.78%) | |
| −2002040Difference (linear scale) |
MPII improvement of 50% or more
relative risk 0.60 (0.39–0.91)
Original publication
Home-Based Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation vs Placebo for Fibromyalgia: A Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA Netw Open. Published 2 June 2025. doi:10.
Composed by AI from the published abstract and checked against it. How Briefs are made →