Table 1.
Description of subject demographics, clinical characteristics, and adverse effects reported for transcranial current stimulation (tCS) and repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation.
| References | N (n<18) | Age (y) | Diagnosis | Adverse events** |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bogdanov et al., 1994 | 21* | 6–18 | Infantile cerebral palsy | Not reported |
| Alon et al., 1998 | 7 | 2.5–7.5 | Cerebral palsy | Well tolerated No reports of seizures, episodes of nausea or vomiting or sleep disruption |
| Shelyakin et al., 2001 | 18 | 4–8 | Infatile cerebral palsy and organic CNS lesions | No negative adverse effects |
| Ilyukhina et al., 2005 | 30 | 4–6 | Delayed neuropsychological development | No adverse effects |
| San-Juan et al., 2011 | 2 (1 < 18) | 17 and 31 | Rasmussen’s encephalitis | No complications or skin injuries |
| Schneider et al., 2011 | 10 | 6–21 | Autism (language disorder) | No adverse effects |
| Mattai A et al., 2011 | 13 | 10.5–17.6 | Schizophrenia | Redness, tingling, itching, fatigue |
| Varga et al., 2011 | 5 | 6.1–11 | Epilepsy | No adverse effects |
| Yook et al., 2011 | 1 | 11 | Seizure | No adverse effects |
| Andrade et al., 2013 | 14 | 5–12 | Language disorders | Tingling, burning sensation, scalp pain, local redness, headache, sleepiness, trouble concentrating, mood changes, irritability |
| Auvichayapat et al., 2013 | 36 | 6–15 | Epilepsy | Well tolerated Erythematous rash with no pain or pruritus (one patient) |
| Young et al., 2013† | 11 (8 < 18) | 7–18 | Dystonia | Uncomfortable at the stimulation electrodes |
| Grecco et al., 2014 | 12 | 5–10 | Cerebral Palsy | No adverse effects |
| Duarte et al., 2014 | 12 | Mean (SD): 7.8(2.0) | Cerebral Palsy | Tingling, redness in the supra-orbital region No other behavioral changes, headache, or discomfort |
| Prehn-Kristensen et al., 2014 | 12 | 10–14 | ADHD | No effect on mood, alertness, or memory |
| Young et al., 2014 | 14 (12 < 18) | 7–19 | Dystonia | Skin discomfort |
| Brasil-Neto et al., 2004 | 5 (1 < 18) | 6–50 | Frontal focal epilepsy | No untoward effects |
| Graff-Guerrero et al., 2004§ | 2 | 11 and 7 | Epilepsia Partialis Continua | No major side effects |
| Morales et al., 2005 | 2 | 8 and 16 | Epilepsy | Case A: Well tolerated; no adverse effects Case B: Leg pain and mild headache (resolved after stimulation) |
| Kinoshita et al., 2005 | 7 (1 < 18) | 16–33 | Extratemporal lobe epilepsy | No adverse effects |
| Fregni et al., 2006 | 27* | Mean (SD): 21.6(7.4)y/20.8(5.2) | Epilepsy/healthy | Not reported |
| Loo et al., 2006 | 2 | 16 | Depression | No adverse effects |
| Valle et al., 2007 | 17 | Mean (SD): 9·1(3.2) | Cerebral palsy | No adverse effects |
| Bloch et al., 2008 | 9 (5 < 18) | 16–18 | Depression | Mild headache |
| Kirton et al., 2008‡ | 5 (4 < 18) | 10–16.7 | Stroke | Neurocardiogenic syncope, mild headache, nausea, neck stiffness |
| Rotenberg et al., 2008 | 1 | 14 | Rasmussen’s encephalitis | Well tolerated with no adverse effects |
| Jardri et al., 2009 | 1 | 11 | Schizophrenia | Well tolerated |
| Mylius et al., 2009 | 1 | 6 | Pantothenate kinase-associated neurodegenerative disease (PKAN) | Not reported |
| Sokhadze et al., 2009§ | 8 (5 <18) | 12–27 | Autism | No adverse effects |
| Baruth et al., 2010§ | 16 (14 < 18) | 9–26 | Autism spectrum disorder | Itching, mild headache |
| Kirton et al., 2010‡ | 5 (4<18) | 10.3–16.7 | Stroke | Neurocardiogenic syncope |
| Sokhadze et al., 2010§ | 13 (11 <18) | 8–27 | Autism spectrum disorder | No adverse effects |
| Hu et al., 2011 | 1 | 15 | Depression | Seizure, hypomania |
| Kwon et al., 2011 | 10 | 9–14 | Tourette’s syndrome | Well tolerated No adverse effects or worsening of symptoms |
| Sun et al., 2011 | 17 (8 < 18) | 3–32 | Epilepsy | Well tolerated; no adverse effects |
| Wall et al., 2011 | 8 | 14.6–17.8 | Depression | Well tolerated |
| Casanova et al., 2012 | 25 | Mean (SD): 12.9(3.1) | Autism | No adverse effects |
| Croarkin et al., 2012† | 8 | 14–17 | Depression | Scalp discomfort |
| Helfrich et al., 2012 | 25 | 8–14 | ADHD | Mild headache; well tolerated |
| Jardri et al., 2012§ | 10 | Mean (SD): 15.5(2.3) | Childhood-onset schizophrenia | Scalp discomfort |
| Sokhadze et al., 2012§ | 20 (18 < 18) | 9–21 | Autism | No adverse effects |
| Sun et al., 2012 | 60* | Group 1: Mean (SD): 21.3 (7.5) Group 2: Mean (SD): 19.7 (6.4) |
Epilepsy | Mild or moderate headache, tinnitus; well tolerated |
| Weaver et al., 2012 | 9 (4 < 18) | 14–21 | ADHD | Mild headache, scalp discomfort |
| Wu et al., 2012 | 40 | 8–17 | Tourette’s syndrome/healthy | Mild headache, neck stiffness, finger twitching; no reports of seizures |
| Chiramberro et al., 2013 | 1 | 16 | Depression | Seizure |
| Le et al., 2013 | 25 | 7–16 | Tourette Syndrome | Mild sleepness |
| Wall et al., 2013 | 14 | 13.9–17.8 | Depression | Scalp discomfort, no adverse neurocognitive effect |
| Gillick et al., 2014§ | 10 | 8–15 | Congenital hemiparesis | Self-limiting headache, dizziness, mood changes, fatigue, abnormal muscle contractions |
| Gomez et al., 2014 | 10 | 7–12 | ADHD | Slight headache, neck pain, slight brief dizziness |
| Oberman et al., 2014 | 19 (17 < 18) | 9–18 | Autism | Mild headache, mild fatigue; no serious adverse effects |
| Sokhadze et al., 2014§ | 27 (22 < 18) | Mean (SD): 14.8(3.2) | Autism spectrum disorder | Mild headache, jaw twitches, itching |
N: number of subjects that underwent stimulation. ADHD: Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.
*
Unknown number of subjects under 18 years old.
**
Adverse effects as described by the authors.
†
Each of these studies reported dropout of one subject from the study due to discomfort and did not include the subject in their analysis.
‡
Sample consists of same subjects.
§
Adverse effects were gathered by contacting the authors through email. Note that the total number of subjects reported in the manuscript (n > 513) does not include the studies that did not report adverse effects, those with unknown number of subjects under 18 years old, and was adjusted for samples representing the same subjects.