Intervention Effects of High-Frequency Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation on Cognitive Function in Patients with Alzheimer’s Disease: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Randomised Controlled Trials

Cognitive dysfunction is the most typical symptom of Alzheimer’s disease and a pending problem that has been the focus of the medical field. High-frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation is a clinical intervention method that has been studied a lot these years. The present meta-analytic review synthesizes the intervention effect of high-frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation on cognitive function in patients with Alzheimer’s disease.

A total of nine Chinese and English databases was used to search for randomised controlled clinical trials on high-frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation interventions for Alzheimer’s disease from the time of database construction to 30 June 2024. Cochrane risk of bias assessment tool was used for literature quality analysis and Revman software and Stata software for Meta-analysis.

A total of 20 papers with 1218 patients were included. Compared with the control group, high-frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation improved cognitive function in patients with Alzheimer’s disease, ADAS-Cog score (MD = − 3.26, 95% CI [− 3.69, − 2.83], p < 0.001), MMSE score subgroup analyses (MD = 4.19 in the 3–5 Hz group, 95% CI [2.78, 5.59], p < 0.001); 10 Hz group MD = 3.32, 95% CI [2.67, 3.96], p < 0.001; 15 Hz group MD = 2.26, 95% CI [1.02, 3.49], p < 0.001; 20 Hz group MD = 1.95, 95% CI [0.99, 2.92], p < 0.001).

There is a significant association between high-frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation and the control of cognitive decline in patients with Alzheimer’s disease, and lower-frequency stimulation appeared to yield larger effect sizes, although subgroup differences were not statistically significant.

CRD42024565232.