Comparing the effectiveness of cognitive behavioral therapy; Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation and cognitive behavioral therapy with Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation on cognitive abilities of patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder: A randomized controlled trial

The general purpose of this research is to compare the effectiveness of three protocols including cognitive behavioral therapy, direct transcranial electrical stimulation therapy and cognitive behavioral therapy combined with direct transcranial electrical stimulation on the cognitive abilities of patients with obsessive compulsive disorder.

This clinical trial has three groups in the form of parallel interventions on 60 patients, this trial is randomized and single-blind, and a table of random numbers is used for randomization.

Sampling of the research is carried out in all faculties of Roudehen University, first, the faculties are randomly selected in clusters, and after identification, 60 people are randomly selected according to the entry and exit criteria using random numbers on the website www.randomizer.org are placed in 3 intervention groups. Placement is done using sealed envelopes that the participants themselves choose and the group code is specified in it, thus the study will remain one-blind.

Inclusion criteria: diagnosis of obsessive-compulsive disorder and age 18 to 35 years old / Exclusion criteria: use of psychiatric drugs, use of another psychotherapy, absence of two consecutive sessions

Intervention group 1 receives 12 sessions of cognitive behavioral therapy. Intervention group 2 receives transcranial direct electrical stimulation treatment for 8 sessions. Intervention group 3 will receive a simultaneous combination of cognitive behavioral therapy and transcranial direct electrical stimulation.

The improvement of cognitive abilities in the group receiving CBT and TDCS at the same time will be more than the improvement of this variable in the two treatments individually.

This controlled clinical trial study is going to be performed in Azad University both male and female students. Initial screening will be performed to determine the baselines. After screening, 60 participants are contacted via simple random sampling and shuffling. Upon arrival at the clinic, each invited person receives a sealed envelope with A, B or C code written on each envelope. This sequence is determined by someone other than the researchers using the site www.randomizer.org. Code A means the group will receive cognitive behavioral therapy; code B means the group will receive Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation and C means the group will receive cognitive behavioral therapy with Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation. Fisher and chi-square tests are also used to homogenize the underlying features.

First of all, in order to blind the trial, a PhD student of psychology from the research group, encode participants information. In this project, blinding means more than just keeping the name of the participants are allocated in treatment or control group hidden. The patients will be blinded in the sense that they do not know they are receiving which kind of therapies. So, the participants are prevented from knowing certain information that may somehow influence them.

Data obtained from participants will be published unrecognizably in the primary information table in the article. The general data will be shared simultaneously with the publication of the main article.

The data will be shared at the same time as the main article publication.

Mainly, this data will be available to academic researchers and clinicians.

Thereafter publication of the article, a way of requesting data is introduced. Also, researchers can analyze the data only if the researchers agree.

Simultaneously with the publication of the article, a way of requesting data is introduced.

Initially, the request is sent to the responsible author, after reviewing the group in order to prevent any kind of abuse, the information is sent in the form of a zip file.