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The Scania Accelerated Intermittent Theta-burst Implementation Study (SATIS)–Lessons from an accelerated treatment protocol

Persson, Marcus LU orcid ; Fabri, Viktor LU ; Reijbrandt, Alexander ; Lexén, Annika LU ; Eriksson, Hans and Movahed Rad, Pouya LU (2025) In PLoS ONE 20(1).
Abstract

Background and objective The Scania Accelerated Intermittent Theta-burst Implementation Study (SATIS) aimed to investigate the tolerability, preliminary effectiveness, and practical feasibility of an accelerated intermittent theta burst stimulation (aTBS) protocol in treating depression. Methods We used an open-label observational design, recruiting 20 patients (aged 19–84 years) from two public brain stimulation centers in Sweden. During the five-day treatment period and at a follow-up visit after 30 days we closely monitored adverse events and collected self-rated side effect data. Objective (MADRS, CGI) and subjective (MADRS-S) measures of symptoms and functioning (EQ-5D) were also assessed. Feasibility was evaluated using direct... (More)

Background and objective The Scania Accelerated Intermittent Theta-burst Implementation Study (SATIS) aimed to investigate the tolerability, preliminary effectiveness, and practical feasibility of an accelerated intermittent theta burst stimulation (aTBS) protocol in treating depression. Methods We used an open-label observational design, recruiting 20 patients (aged 19–84 years) from two public brain stimulation centers in Sweden. During the five-day treatment period and at a follow-up visit after 30 days we closely monitored adverse events and collected self-rated side effect data. Objective (MADRS, CGI) and subjective (MADRS-S) measures of symptoms and functioning (EQ-5D) were also assessed. Feasibility was evaluated using direct patient ratings combined with a qualitative approach evaluating staff experience. Results All patients reported adverse events at some point, the most common being headache (18/ 20 patients), but they were generally transient. MADRS scores decreased from 28.4 (min = 17, max = 38. SD = 6.9) at baseline to 20.0 (min = 1, max = 42. SD = 11.6) after the last day of treatment. 25% (n = 5) met the response criteria, with a mean time to response of 2.2 days (min = 1, max = 3. SD = 1.1). The practical arrangements surrounding this new treatment proved challenging for the organization, but patients reported few practical problems. Conclusion SATIS provided further insights into the potential benefits and challenges associated with aTBS protocols. Effectiveness and drop-out rates were comparable to national data of conventional iTBS, but with a markedly faster time to response. More resources were required than anticipated, increasing the clinical workload.

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organization
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type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
PLoS ONE
volume
20
issue
1
article number
e0316339
publisher
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
external identifiers
  • pmid:39746089
  • scopus:85214119314
ISSN
1932-6203
DOI
10.1371/journal.pone.0316339
language
English
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yes
id
57d64b8b-44c1-4784-9cc5-f1183bb149b8
date added to LUP
2025-03-25 14:25:26
date last changed
2025-07-01 20:47:23
@article{57d64b8b-44c1-4784-9cc5-f1183bb149b8,
  abstract     = {{<p>Background and objective The Scania Accelerated Intermittent Theta-burst Implementation Study (SATIS) aimed to investigate the tolerability, preliminary effectiveness, and practical feasibility of an accelerated intermittent theta burst stimulation (aTBS) protocol in treating depression. Methods We used an open-label observational design, recruiting 20 patients (aged 19–84 years) from two public brain stimulation centers in Sweden. During the five-day treatment period and at a follow-up visit after 30 days we closely monitored adverse events and collected self-rated side effect data. Objective (MADRS, CGI) and subjective (MADRS-S) measures of symptoms and functioning (EQ-5D) were also assessed. Feasibility was evaluated using direct patient ratings combined with a qualitative approach evaluating staff experience. Results All patients reported adverse events at some point, the most common being headache (18/ 20 patients), but they were generally transient. MADRS scores decreased from 28.4 (min = 17, max = 38. SD = 6.9) at baseline to 20.0 (min = 1, max = 42. SD = 11.6) after the last day of treatment. 25% (n = 5) met the response criteria, with a mean time to response of 2.2 days (min = 1, max = 3. SD = 1.1). The practical arrangements surrounding this new treatment proved challenging for the organization, but patients reported few practical problems. Conclusion SATIS provided further insights into the potential benefits and challenges associated with aTBS protocols. Effectiveness and drop-out rates were comparable to national data of conventional iTBS, but with a markedly faster time to response. More resources were required than anticipated, increasing the clinical workload.</p>}},
  author       = {{Persson, Marcus and Fabri, Viktor and Reijbrandt, Alexander and Lexén, Annika and Eriksson, Hans and Movahed Rad, Pouya}},
  issn         = {{1932-6203}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{1}},
  publisher    = {{Public Library of Science (PLoS)}},
  series       = {{PLoS ONE}},
  title        = {{The Scania Accelerated Intermittent Theta-burst Implementation Study (SATIS)–Lessons from an accelerated treatment protocol}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0316339}},
  doi          = {{10.1371/journal.pone.0316339}},
  volume       = {{20}},
  year         = {{2025}},
}