Protocol Online cognitive training for people with cognitive impairment following SARS-CoV-2 infection: A randomised controlled clinical trial, 2024, Corbett

MeSci

MeSci

Senior Member (Voting Rights)
'It's not a way to live': New study from Exeter team could offer hope for Long Covid sufferers

My foggy brain seemed to deduce three main things from this news item:

1. A young woman called Amber Rawlinson has long COVID and is struggling with what sounds identical to ME.

2. Dr David Strain works at Exeter University and talks briefly about the condition.

3. Professor Anne Corbett from the uni is working with Beacon, based on work done with brain training puzzles on older adults who had already shown signs of cognitive decline. (I think this refers to dementia.)

https://www.itv.com/news/westcountr...ew-study-offers-hope-for-long-covid-sufferers

I really don't think this will have any benefit.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
"The primary outcome will be cognition measured by the FLAME computerised cognitive test battery, with secondary outcomes of cognition, function, fatigue, mood and quality of life. Service use and employment will be collected to support a health economics analysis. Analysis will follow an intention-to-treat approach in adults over 40 with a secondary analysis with the whole trial population."

https://fundingawards.nihr.ac.uk/award/NIHR203603
 
MeSci said:
based on work done with brain training puzzles on older adults who had already shown signs of cognitive decline.
Click to expand...
Problem basically solved. Life so wretched by illness that it's not worth living? Here's a puzzle game to distract you. Good grief we are in such mediocre hands.

It's really the same everywhere, humans only accomplish things because of a mass of billions trying all the things for millennia, individual intelligence is almost irrelevant. But in health care, the consequences are immediate and made quickly worse by time, so it's felt a lot more directly. It's not just that it takes a decade more to make a technological leap or build a power plant or roads, it's people suffering and dying while so-called experts dick around doing useless nonsense.
 
Dr Strain's hopeful but delusive fantasy. Can't he do better than that? He's wasting time, funding, resources. For what? This does not deserve the stupid publicity it's getting. For Long Covid patients with PEM doing puzzles just causes more PEM, it does not retrain the brain.
 
Online cognitive training for people with cognitive impairment following SARS-CoV-2 infection: A randomised controlled clinical trial

Abstract:

Research question:
What is the impact of the ReaCT cognitive training programme on cognition and other key health-related outcomes in people with cognitive impairment following infection with SARS-CoV-2?

Background:
Over 255 million people have had Covid-19 globally to date, and cases continue to rise. Whilst the pandemic begins to come under control its most concerning legacy is Long-Covid, or Post-Acute Sequelae of Covid-19 (PASC), which affects at least 9.9% of people. Neuropsychiatric symptoms are common in PASC, with cognitive impairment affecting at least 25% of patients. Cognitive deficits impact on individuals employment, social activity, wellbeing and quality of life. They are also a key risk factor for onward cognitive impairment and dementia particularly in older adults.

While pharmacological options are explored for acute cases, there is a need for a low-cost, effective treatment to improve and support cognitive function in individuals with PASC that can be rapidly implemented on a large scale and can be used in both clinical and community settings. Cognitive training offers a means to address cognitive impairment, and digital delivery is a pragmatic and cost-effective way of delivering it to a population. The ReaCT programme is available online and in app format and has established effectiveness in maintaining cognition in older adults.

Aims and Objectives:
The aim of this study is to establish the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of the ReaCT cognitive training programme in adults with subjective and established cognitive impairment following infection with SARS-CoV-2.

Methods:
This will be a six month two-arm placebo-controlled double-blind randomised controlled trial in 608 adults over 40 and a further 1000 adults over 18. Participants over 18 with a laboratory-confirmed case of SARS-CoV-2 infection and subjective cognitive impairment will be recruited through primary care, publicity, social media and an existing ageing research cohort. Participants will register, consent and take part through an app available through their smartphone or mobile device. They will be randomly allocated to receive the ReaCT programme of six evidence-based problem-solving tasks, or a control task with no learning effects.

Outcomes will be collected through the app at baseline, three weeks, six weeks and six months. The primary outcome will be cognition measured by the FLAME computerised cognitive test battery, with secondary outcomes of cognition, function, fatigue, mood and quality of life. Service use and employment will be collected to support a health economics analysis. Analysis will follow an intention-to-treat approach in adults over 40 with a secondary analysis with the whole trial population.

Timelines for delivery:
This will be a 24-month study, encompassing a six-month setup period, six month recruitment window, six month intervention period and ring-fenced time for dissemination,

Anticipated Impact and Dissemination:
This study will provide evidence to support the roll out of an intervention that is ready-made and fit-for-purpose for rollout. It would rapidly form part of the ongoing public health strategy of interventions to reduce the impact of PASC across the population and would support individuals in regaining their independence and health in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.
 
I would be a bit surprised if this could be double blind.I am not sure what another taks with 'no learning effects' means. I wouldn't have thought that the test app was intended to produce learning.

I get involved in all sorts of cognitive tasks up and down as days go by and I have difficulty seeing how that would have much effect on my ability to use my brain later when I have post covid problems. It depends on whether or not I feel up to it.

I wonder where ReaCT comes from?
 
Lou B Lou said:
Dr Strain's hopeful but delusive fantasy. Can't he do better than that? He's wasting time, funding, resources. For what? This does not deserve the stupid publicity it's getting. For Long Covid patients with PEM doing puzzles just causes more PEM, it does not retrain the brain.
Click to expand...
He's not listed in the protocol, so maybe it's just that he works at the same uni and is involved with ME and Long Covid. I'd be quite surprised if he were involved in something like this.
 
My father, age 91 had memory tests last year. He had very severe day to day memory dysfunction that the tests just didn't pick up. The consultant thought my fathers intelligence and reading protected him from memory deterioration. My father read 2 or 3 novels a week, and used his samsung tablet to place bets on horses, using a very complicated betting system. But he couldn't keep himself safe day to day due to his memory impairment. The memory tests just didn't seem to relate to the dangerous level of memory dysfunction my father had.
 
Andy said:
Trial By Error: A New Study from Exeter on “Brain Training” for Treatment of Post-Covid Cognitive Problems
Click to expand...

I find it very perplexing that a trial that started a while ago still has a frequently asked questions page that has no information and says "coming soon." What's up with that?? They're running a trial and can't be bothered to create a website that contains basic information for patients? That doesn't seem like a good sign to me.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom