Efficacy of the Whole-Body Cryotherapy as Add-on Therapy to Pharmacological Treatment of Depression-A Randomized Controlled Trial.
Level 2 - randomized trial
Individual randomized controlled trial
PubMed 32581890 · doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2020.00522
What was done
In a prospective, randomized, double-blind, sham-controlled trial, 92 adults aged 20–73 years with an active depressive episode undergoing pharmacological treatment were allocated to receive 10 sessions of either whole-body cryotherapy (-110°C to -160°C, experimental group) or sham cold exposure (-50°C, control group). Depressive symptoms were evaluated using the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAM-D 17) and the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II). Secondary outcomes included quality of life, disease acceptance, self-assessed mood, vitality, sleep quality, and sexual satisfaction.
What was found
Only 56 of 92 participants completed the trial (30 in the experimental group, 26 in the control group). The experimental group showed statistically significant group-by-time interactions favoring cryotherapy on the HAM-D 17 (p = 0.02), total BDI-II (p = 0.01), cognitive-affective BDI dimension (p = 0.00), and somatic BDI dimension (p = 0.028). Significant improvements were also reported for quality of life (p < 0.05), self-assessed mood (p = 0.035), and disease acceptance (p = 0.007). There were no statistically significant changes in sexual satisfaction, vitality, or sleep (p > 0.05). Numerical scores and effect sizes were not reported in the abstract.
Why it matters
This trial suggests that adjunctive whole-body cryotherapy may augment symptom reduction and improve quality of life in patients receiving standard pharmacological treatment for depression.
Limits
There was substantial attrition (36 of 92 enrolled participants dropped out, ~39%). The analyzed sample was small (n = 56). The abstract does not provide absolute score values, effect sizes, confidence intervals, adverse events, or long-term follow-up beyond the 10-session intervention.
Cited by
- partial In patients with major depressive disorder, whole-body cryotherapy at -236°F to -256°F for 2 minutes (5 times per week for 2 weeks) improved Hamilton depression scores by approximately 17 points.