Abstract
BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to assess the efficacy of specific neuromodulation treatments performed with radio electric asymmetric conveyer (REAC) technology in the treatment of the symptomatic triad depression, anxiety, and stress by the use of a specific psychometric test such as the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-42 items (DASS-42) version, which assesses simultaneously the severity of expression of this triad. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The design of this study was planned to compare two populations that performed DASS-42 test twice within a similar period of time. The first population performed the first DASS test before the treatment and the second test about 3 months later, at the end of two specific REAC neuromodulation treatments, neuropostural optimization (NPO) and neuropsychophysical optimization (NPPO), that have previously shown an efficacy in the treatment of depression, anxiety and stress. The second population (untreated), used as the randomized control group, consisted of a similar group by gender and age, who performed the DASS-42 test in an online platform twice, with an interval of about 3 months between the first and second tests, similar to the interval between the two tests in the treated group. RESULTS: The comparison between the treated group and the control group points out the REAC treatment efficacy in improving the quality of life. At the second DASS-42 test, self-administered about 3 months after the treatments, treated patients were positioned on average values of much milder severity in all the three clusters, depression, anxiety, and stress, while in untreated patients there was no significant difference between the mean values of the first and second DASS tests. CONCLUSION: The results obtained in this study, evaluated with the DASS-42 test, confirm that REAC-NPO and REAC-NPPO neuromodulation treatments can be useful tools for the clinical treatment of depression, anxiety, and stress, as already proven by previous results evaluated with different psychometric tests.