Summary of participant characteristics from the included studies
| Stimulation | Control | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Author | Age, yr | M/F | Education | Age, yr | M/F | Education | Diagnosis | Recruitment |
| De Lima et al.86 (2019) | 32.07 ± 6.5 | 5/10 | 2 elementary, 9 secondary, 4 university | 29 ± 5.05 | 6/9 | 2 elementary, 7 secondary, 6 university | GAD | Two outpatient clinics |
| Deppermann et al.115 (2014) | 37.6 (range 19–63) | 9/13* | 12.1 ± 1.7 yr | 36.3 (range 22–56) | 8/14* | 12.4 ± 2.0 yr | PD ± agoraphobia | Outpatient clinics, advertisements, internet, information sent to local physicians |
| Diefenbach et al.116 (2016) | 44.00 ± 11.95 | 1/8 | 12 yr (high school diploma) | 44.58 ± 14.75 | 3/7 | 12 yr (high school diploma) | GAD | Outpatient clinic, advertisements, internet, community flyers, physician referral, media coverage |
| Dilkov et al.87 (2017) | 34 ± 7 | 9/6 | NR | 38 ± 10 | 11/11 | NR | GAD | 2 mood disorder centres: Canada and Bulgaria |
| Herrmann et al.117 (2017) | 43.2 ± 12.6 | 7/13 | NR | 46.6 ± 13.7 | 6/13 | NR | SP | Advertisements in local newspapers |
| Huang et al.118 (2018) | 44.94 ± 11.64 | 9/9 | NR | 45.22 ± 10.85 | 9/9 | NR | GAD + insomnia | Neurology outpatient clinic |
| Mantovani et al.119 (2013) | 40.2 ± 10 | 4/8† | NR | 39.87 ± 13.3 | 8/5† | NR | PD + MDD | NR |
| Movahed et al.120 (2018) | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | GAD | NR |
| Nasiri et al.121 (2020) | 20.23 ± 2.89 | 3/10 | NR | 21.53 ± 3.56 | 4/11 | NR | GAD + MDD | University announcements |
| Notzon et al.88 (2015) | 25.85 ± 7.65 | 20‡ | 11.30 ± 3.91 yr | 27.02 ± 9.23 | 20‡ | 11.34 ± 3.51 yr | SP | Local advertisements |
| Prasko et al.122 (2007) | 33.7 ± 9.2 | 1/6 | 5 elementary, 1 secondary, 1 university | 33.8 ± 12.2 | 3/5 | 1 elementary, 6 secondary, 1 university | PD | NR |
F = female; GAD = generalized anxiety disorder; M = male; MDD = major depressive disorder; NR = not reported; PD = panic disorder; SP = specific phobia. Values are mean ± standard deviation or n, unless otherwise specified.
↵* The number of males and females was based on the original number of participants included in the study reported in Deppermann et al.110 (2017). Three participants did not complete the study (2 from the stimulation group and 1 from the sham group), but their sex was not reported by the authors.
↵† The number of males and females was based on the original number of participants included in the study. Four participants did not complete the study (1 from the stimulation group and 3 from the sham group).
↵‡ Participant sex in the stimulation and sham groups were not specified; we have reported the total number of patients from the authors’ data set.