Table 3. Antidepressant use and psychosocial intervention during the trial multi-subject trials.
SSRI: selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor; SNRI: serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor, ATHF: Antidepressant Treatment History Form, TCA: tricyclic antidepressants.
| Author | Antidepressant use | Previous treatment failure | Psychosocial intervention used | Change of dosages allowed |
| Croarkin et al. [43] | None | Yes | No change in psychosocial interventions | N/A |
| Zhang et al. [42] | All used one type of antidepressant treatment during rTMS along with other medications | Unspecified but excluded patients who were taking more than one antidepressant | Unspecified | No |
| MacMaster et al. [27] | Psychotropic medications use were allowed if stable for 6 weeks 31.25% were not on psychotropics | At least two previous failed medication trials | Unspecified | No unless medically necessary |
| Pan et al. [38] | Either drug naïve or was not taking antidepressants for 2 weeks prior to the study | All three patients took an antidepressant in the past for an unspecified dose and duration | Unspecified | N/A |
| Wall et al. [28] | All used either SSRI or SNRI | At least one prior medication trial failure as defined by ATHF. Study participants had a mean of 4.0 prior failed medication trial (SD 2.1). | No change in psychotherapy treatment was allowed within the last 4 weeks of treatment | No |
| Croarkin et al. [29] | All were on antidepressants | At least one prior failed medication trials | Unspecified | No |
| Yang et al. [39] | Unspecified | At least one failed trial | Unspecified | Unspecified |
| Wall et al. [30] | All were on antidepressants | At least one prior failed trial | No change in psychotherapy or therapist | No |
| Wall et al. [31] | Yes | Yes - at least two failed trials | No change in psychotherapy or therapist in 4 weeks prior to rTMS | No |
| Croarkin et al. [40] | Case 1 - none; Case 2 - yes | Case 1 - none; case 2 - multiple | Unspecified | No |
| Bloch et al. [32] | Yes | Failure of one course of psychotherapy and two courses of medication trials 8 weeks each, with at least one of the antidepressants being Fluoxetine | No change in therapy within 5 weeks before starting of rTMS | No |
| Loo et al. [41] | Case 1 - unspecified; case 2 - yes | Case 1 - failure of one course of psychotherapy; case 2 - one course of psychotherapy, two medication trials | Unspecified | Case 1 - unspecified; Case 2 - no |
| Walter et al. [44] | No | Unspecified | Unspecified | Unspecified |