Effects of non-invasive brain stimulation over supplementary motor area in people with Parkinson's disease: a protocol for a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials.

Introduction: Individuals with Parkinson's disease (PD) often experience initial hesitation, slowness of movements, decreased balance and impaired standing ability, which can significantly impact their independence. Transcranial magnetic stimulation and transcranial direct current stimulation are two widely used and promising non-invasive brain stimulation (NIBS) modalities for treating PD. The supplementary motor area (SMA), associated with motor behaviour and processing, has received increasing attention as a potential stimulation target to alleviate PD-related symptoms. However, the data on NIBS over SMA in PD individuals are inconsistent and has not been synthesised. In this article, we will review the evidence for NIBS over SMA in PD individuals and evaluate its efficacy in improving PD function.

Method And Analysis: Randomised controlled clinical trials comparing the effects of NIBS and sham stimulation on motor function, activities of daily living and participation for people with PD will be included. A detailed computer-aided search of the literature will be performed from inception to February 2023 in the following databases: PubMed, EMBASE, Physiotherapy Evidence Database (PEDro), Web of Science (WOS) and The Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI). Two independent reviewers will screen articles for relevance and methodological validity. The PEDro scale will be used to evaluate the risk of bias of selected studies. Data from included studies will be extracted by two independent reviewers through a customised, preset data extraction sheet.

Ethics And Dissemination: Ethical approval is not required for this systematic review. The study's findings will be presented at scientific meetings and published in peer-reviewed journals.

Prospero Registration Number: CRD42023399945.