Shan H. Siddiqi edited section_Methods_subsection_Subjects_We__.tex  almost 9 years ago

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We used a convenience sample of treatment-seeking patients who presented with a major depressive episode as defined by DSM-IV criteria. All patients signed informed consent as approved by the Human Research Protection Office at Washington University in St. Louis. 22 patients enrolled in the study, of which 16 patients completed the treatment course and the baseline personality assessment.   \subsection{Instruments}  Subjects completed a baseline written version of the TCI, the TCI-R 140, which was scored by the Center for Well-Being at Washington Univerity in St. Louis. The 21-item Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HRDS)\cite{14399272} (HRSD)\cite{14399272}  was used at baseline, at every two-week interval, and at the end of the treatment course in order to measure treatment response. \subsection{rTMS treatment}  All subjects received a standard clinical protocol with high frequency (10Hz) rTMS over the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) at 4000 pulses for up to 20 treatments with a Magpro R30 device (MagVenture, Tonica Elektronik – Denmark). Additional slow (1Hz) rTMS at 600 – 1200 pulses over the right DLPFC was used for augmentation as needed. Investigators providing rTMS treatments were not aware of patients' TCI profiles until the treatment course was completed.  

Treatment response was defined as ≥50\% decrease in Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS) scores. Baseline scores on each TCI dimension were compared between responders and nonresponders via unpaired t-test calculated with Microsoft Excel 2010. The threshold for significant p-value was set at 0.007 based on Bonferroni correction due to presence of seven simultaneous comparisons. Temperament/character scores were also subjected to linear regression analysis against percentage improvement in HDRS. Pearson correlation coefficients were compared for each temperament/character score against baseline HDRS score and percentage improvement in HDRS.