earticle

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Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) over the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) on pain intensity and functional strength in the elderly with chronic back pain. Methods: Sixteen elderly (72 ± 5.16 yrs) with chronic back pain participated in this randomized double-blinded crossover study. Each participant received both sham and 2-mA anodal currents over left dlPFC (cathode over the seventh cervical spinous process) for 20 min during 2 weeks for each current type with a washout period of 2 days between two different current stimulation periods. Pain intensity, functional lift strength, and the fear-avoidance response of all the participants were evaluated. Results: There were no significant differences in all pain-related variables between the 2mA stimulation period and the sham stimulation period. However, for results by within-group analysis in each stimulation period, we found significant improvements in pain intensity (p=.02), functional strength, (p=.006) and fear-avoidance response (p=.002) only after 2mA stimulation period, while there were no significant changes after sham stimulation. Conclusion: The current study demonstrated that anodal tDCS over dlPFC improve the painful feelings, followed by the functional strength for lifting task.