Managing burnout with non-invasive neuromodulation

Transcranial direct current stimulation and attention skills in burnout patients: a randomized blinded sham-controlled pilot study

Status

Active, not recruiting

Phases

Unknown

Study type

Interventional

Source

ISRCTN

Registry ID

ISRCTN94275121

Enrollment

Registered

2019-12-18

Start date

2016-02-08

Completion date

Unknown

Last updated

2020-06-15

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Attention deficits in burnout Mental and Behavioural Disorders

Interventions

Real tDCS: daily sessions for 3 weeks, 1 session consisted of 2mA, 20min, anodal tDCS over the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (cathode over lateral aspect of contralateral orbit) + 1 session / we

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

All

Inclusion criteria

Inclusion criteria: 1. Score of > 4 on the Dutch version of the Maslach Burnout Scale (MBS)

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion criteria: 1. Excessive drug or alcohol use 2. Epilepsy 3. Depression 4. Bipolar syndrome 5. Chronic fatigue syndrome or any other history of psychiatric or neurological disorders 6. Implanted neurostimulator or pace-maker 7. Drugs interacting directly with the NMDA receptors 8. Pregnancy

Design outcomes

Primary

Measure	Time frame
Attention measured using RBANS at baseline and after 3 weeks of stimulation	—

Secondary

Measure	Time frame
At baseline and after 3 weeks of stimulation: 1. Burnout measured using MBS 2. Depression measured using BDI 3. Quality of Life measured using QoL 4. Attention measured using RBANS Attention Index 5. Vigilance measured using D2 (s-score) 6. Central executive measured using Inhibition and shifting, Stroop III, TMT B, WCST 7. Processing speed (updating and control) measured using TMT A, Stroop I and II, D2 (Gz, F%, Gz – F) 8. Phonological loop measured using RBANS Language Index 9. BNTmeasured using Semantic fluency tasks 10. Visuospatial sketchpad measured using Raven and RBANS Visuospatial Index 11. Encoding measured using RBANS Immediate Memory Index 12. Retrieval measured using RBANS Recent Memory Index	—

Measure

Time frame

At baseline and after 3 weeks of stimulation: 1. Burnout measured using MBS 2. Depression measured using BDI 3. Quality of Life measured using QoL 4. Attention measured using RBANS Attention Index 5. Vigilance measured using D2 (s-score) 6. Central executive measured using Inhibition and shifting, Stroop III, TMT B, WCST 7. Processing speed (updating and control) measured using TMT A, Stroop I and II, D2 (Gz, F%, Gz – F) 8. Phonological loop measured using RBANS Language Index 9. BNTmeasured using Semantic fluency tasks 10. Visuospatial sketchpad measured using Raven and RBANS Visuospatial Index 11. Encoding measured using RBANS Immediate Memory Index 12. Retrieval measured using RBANS Recent Memory Index

—

Countries

Belgium

Contacts

Public ContactKim van Dun

kim.vandun@uhasselt.be+32496732633

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ISRCTN (via WHO ICTRP) · Data processed: Feb 28, 2026