Table 1.
Characteristics of included studies
| First author, year, country | Study design | Length of follow-up | Study groups; intervention vs. control | Patients (n) | Mean age (years) | Men (%) | Outcome variables |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kelson, 2013, U.S. [34] | RCT | Final assessment at end of 4 weeks treatment | I: EEG-based neurofeedback: 20 sessions, 5 times/week during 4 weeks C: waiting list (offered EEG-based neurofeedback at end of study) |
Veterans with PTSD diagnosis I: 7 C: 5 |
I: 53.8 C: 49.8 |
100 | PTSD symptoms, measured with self-constructed scale based on symptoms included in diagnostic criteria Suicidal thoughts, measured in one item in PTSD symptom scale |
| Noohi, 2017, Iran [35] | RCT | Final assessment at end of 45 days treatment | I: EEG-based neurofeedback: 25 sessions, 4 times/week during 45 days C: no intervention (?) |
Patients with PTSD I: 15 C: 15 |
25–60 (mean not reported) | 100 | PTSD symptoms, measured with the impact of event scale-revised (IES-R) Level of functioning, measured with cognitive performance tests |
| Peniston, 1991, U.S.[25] | RCT | Thirty months after treatment | I: EEG-based neurofeedback: 30 sessions, 5 times/week C: standard treatment (traditional medical control, i.e., psychotropic medication and individual and group therapy) In both groups, a reduction of the initial psychotropic medication dosage was attempted |
Veterans with chronic PTSD I: 15 C: 14 |
I: 36.1 (SD 2.6) C: 37.2 (SD 2.8) |
100 | PTSD symptoms, measured with the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) PTSD scale Psychotropic medication dosage |
| van der Kolk, 2016, U.S.[36] | RCT | Four weeks after end of 12 weeks treatment | I: initial pretraining in temperature biofeedback followed by EEG-based neurofeedback: 24 sessions 2 times/week for 12 weeks C: waiting list Both groups continued ongoing treatment (medication and psychotherapy) |
Adults with treatment nonresponsive PTSD I: 28 C: 24 |
I: 46.0 (SD 12.9) C: 42.4 (SD 13.5) |
24 | PTSD symptoms, measured with the clinician administered PTSD Scale (CAPS) and the Davidson Trauma Scale (DTS) |
Abbreviations: C, control; I, intervention; PTSD, post-traumatic stress disorder; RCT, randomized-controlled trial.