| Objective To investigate the effects of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation on the efficacy and improvement of cognitive function in adolescents with depression.Methods Sixty adolescent depression patients who met the diagnostic criteria of the International Classification of Diseases (Version 10) (ICD-10) from September 2021 to March 2022 in the psychological outpatient clinic of the Affiliated Hospital of North China University of Technology were selected and randomly divided into a study group (escitalopram oxalate combined with rTMS treatment) and a control group (escitalopram oxalate combined with rTMS pseudo-stimulation treatment) using the random number method. There were 30 cases each, and both groups were treated for 4 weeks. Depressive symptoms were assessed before treatment and at weeks 1, 2, 3, and 4 using Hamilton Depression Scale (HAMD) scores and subtraction rates, and cognitive function was assessed before treatment and after 4 weeks of treatment using the Motor Screening Task (MOT), Rule Switching Task (RST), and Delayed Sample Matching (DMS) tasks. Adverse effects were recorded before and after treatment in both groups.Results The results of ANOVA for repeated measures of HAMD scores before treatment and at weeks 1, 2, 3 and 4 of treatment showed that the time factor was significant, (F=1871.243, P<0. 05), and HAMD scores in both groups gradually decreased with increasing treatment time; the results of between-group analysis showed that the reduction in HAMD scores was higher in the study group than in the control group ( F=38.716, P<0. 05), and with The results of intergroup analysis showed that the reduction of HAMD score in the study group was higher than that in the control group ( F=38.716, P<0. 05), and the efficacy was significant with the extension of treatment time (F=207.742, P<0. 05). The rate of score reduction was significantly higher in the study group than in the control group after 4 weeks of treatment (93.3% vs. 73.3%,2=4.320, P=0.038). There was no significant difference in each variable of RST and DMS between the two groups before treatment (all P > 0.05), and each variable of RST and DMS improved significantly after treatment compared with that before treatment, and each variable was significantly higher in the study group than in the control group after treatment (all P < 0.05). There was no significant difference in the incidence of adverse reactions between the two groups (P > 0.05).Conclusion Escitalopram oxalate treatment combined with repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation improves the symptoms of adolescent depressed patients while the patients' cognitive functions such as executive and memory functions are improved. |