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Table 6 Meta-analysis of antidepressant outcomes in DTMS studies with H1-coil vs. rTMS studies with F8-coil

From: Antidepressant outcomes of high-frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) with F8-coil and deep transcranial magnetic stimulation (DTMS) with H1-coil in major depression: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Mixed-effects analyses

Primary outcome (depression severity); Hedges’ g (95% CI)

Secondary outcome (response rates); responders/total n (95% CI)

Secondary outcome (remission rates); remitters/total n (95% CI)

Pooled weighted effects

Mean (95% CI); k; n

 DTMS (H1-coil)

1.55 (1.17–1.94); k = 8; n = 183

24% (11–44%); k = 6; n = 143 (27/143)

10% (6–17%); k = 6; n = 143 (13/143)

 rTMS (F8-coil)

.97 (.70–1.25); k = 12; n = 168

31% (22–43%); k = 9; n = 128 (39/128)

22% (14–33%); k = 6; n = 77 (15/77)

 H1-coil vs. F8-coil

Q (df 1) = 9.32, p = .002*

Q (df 1) = 2.46, p = .116

Q (df 1) = 4.46, p = .035*

Heterogeneity statistics

 DTMS (H1-coil)

Q (df 7) = 16.89, p = .018*; I2 = 58%

Q (df 5) = 14.13, p = .015*; I2 = 65%

Q (df 5) = 4.05, p = .543; I2 = 0%

 rTMS (F8-coil)

Q (df 11) = 22.91, p = .018*; I2 = 52%

Q (df 8) = 10.67, p = .221; I2 = 25%

Q (df 5) = 3.68, p = .596; I2 = 0%

Sensitivity analyses

Open-label studies only

 DTMS (H1-coil)

1.67 (1.24–2.11); k = 7; n = 100

29% (12–53%); k = 5; n = 54 (14/54)

15% (8–28%); k = 5; n = 54 (7/54)

 rTMS (F8-coil)

.74 (.50–.98); k = 4; n = 78

30% (21–41%); k = 4; n = 78 (23/78)

26% (16–41%); k = 3; n = 48 (12/48)

 H1-coil vs. F8-coil

Q (df 1) = 19.14, p < .001*

Q (df 1) = .34, p = .559

Q (df 1) = 1.76, p = .184

Add-on studies only

 DTMS (H1-coil)

1.77 (1.12–2.42); k = 5; n = 73

14% (2–62%); k = 3; n = 27 (3/27)

10% (3–30%); k = 3; n = 27 (2/27)

 rTMS (F8-coil)

.96 (.67–1.26); k = 11; n = 158

33% (24–44%); k = 8; n = 118 (38/118)

23% (14–35%); k = 5; n = 67 (14/67)

 H1-coil vs. F8-coil

Q (df 1) = 11.46, p = .001*

Q (df 1) = .52, p = .473

Q (df 1) = 1.66, p = .197

  1. Abbreviations: CI 95% confidence interval, df degrees of freedom, DTMS deep transcranial magnetic stimulation, F8 figure-of-eight coil (rTMS), H1 H1-coil (DTMS), Hedges’ g (effect size) standardised paired difference in means corrected for the sample size, k number of studies, n sample size, rTMS repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation
  2. *ptwo-tailed < .05