In patients with chronic schizophrenia, add-on high-frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) may effectively treat cognitive impairments, a pilot study suggests.

Chinese researchers randomised 120 patients to receive rTMS at 10Hz, rTMS at 20Hz or sham stimulation for eight weeks and followed up at week 32.

They performed the Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status (RBANS) to assess cognitive function. Psychotic symptoms were assessed with the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS).

The primary outcome measure was cognitive function as assessed by RBANS and the secondary outcome was clinical symptoms assessed by PANSS.