Protocol for Assistance to Patients With Long Covid-19 Undergoing Treatment With HD-tDCS

March 18, 2022 updated by: Suellen Marinho Andrade, Federal University of Paraíba
COVID-19 is an infectious disease which presents a heterogenous clinical presentation. Recent investigations suggest that people who were infected by COVID-19 often develop physical disabilities (i.e. pain, fatigue) and neurological complications after hospital discharge. Many therapeutic approaches such as transcranial direct current stimulation high definition (HD-tDCS) have been proposed to minimize functional and structural impairments. Recently, I electroencephalogram (EEG) has been used as predictor of HD-tDCS effectiveness in diverse neurological populations. However, evidences about this tool utilization as efficacy predictor of tDCS in COVID-19 people rest inconclusive. Thereby, our objective is to evaluate HD-tDCS efficacy on fatigue, pain and functional capacity of patients with COVID-19 chronic.

Study Overview

Detailed Description

We propose a sham-controlled randomized clinical trial with patients in COVID-19 chronic. They will be evaluated according to following eligibility criteria :

Patients who had a medical diagnosis of COVID-19, clinically stable, able to respond to simple commands, able to walk for six minutes and who sign study consent form will be enrolled. Those who present associated neurological diseases, pregnant, users of psychoactive drugs, patients who have metallic implants, electronic devices, pacemakers, or epileptic patients will be excluded.

Patients will be allocated randomly to the experimental group or sham control. Sessions for experimental group consist of anodal HD-tDCS on Left diaphragmatic primary motor cortex associated to respiratory training (10 sessions, 3mA, 20 minutes/session). In the sham condition, the device provided a 30-second ramp-up period to the full 3 mA, followed immediately by a 30-second ramp down.

Patients will be assessed in three moments: pre-treatment, post-treatment and after 30 days treatment ending (follow-up).

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Anticipated)

30

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Locations

    • Paraiba
      • João Pessoa, Paraiba, Brazil, 58051-900
        • Recruiting
        • Federal University of Paraíba,Department of Psychology
        • Contact:

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years to 80 years (ADULT, OLDER_ADULT)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Patients who had a medical diagnosis of COVID-19, clinically stable, able to respond to simple commands, able to walk for six minutes and who sign study consent form will be enrolled. Those who present associated neurological diseases, pregnant, users of psychoactive drugs, patients who have metallic implants, electronic devices, pacemakers, or epileptic patients will be excluded.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: TREATMENT
  • Allocation: RANDOMIZED
  • Interventional Model: PARALLEL
  • Masking: DOUBLE

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
EXPERIMENTAL: Experimental Group/ Active HD-tDCS
Patients who will be randomly enrolled in this group. They will receive 10 sessions of anodal stimulation on cortical representation zone of left diaphragmatic motor cortex using HD-tDCS associated to respiratory training; for 20 minutes (each session) with a 3mA intensity. The electrical current will be delivered with a ramp-up time of 30 s, held at 3mA for 20 min, and then ramped down over 30 s.
Patients enrolled in this group will received 20 minutes of anodal HD-tDCS ( tDCS 1x1, developed by Soterix Medical Inc.) during 10 sessions. It will be delivered a 3mA intensity electrical current accordingly 10/20 International System on cortical representation zone of left diaphragmatic motor cortex using HD-tDCS.
SHAM_COMPARATOR: Control Group / Sham Group
Patients enrolled in this group condition will receive 10 sessions of anodal stimulation on cortical representation zone of left diaphragmatic motor cortex using HD-tDCS associated to respiratory training; for 20 minutes (each session) with a 3mA intensity. In the sham condition, the device will provide a 30-second ramp-up followed immediately by a 30-second ramp down.
10-sessions of anodal HD-tDCS( tDCS 1x1, developed by Soterix Medical Inc.) associated to respiratory training; for 20 minutes (each session) with a 3mA intensity.The device will provide a 30-second ramp-up followed immediately by a 30-second ramp down.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Fatigue Impact
Time Frame: From date of randomization (1 week before intervention beginning) up to 5 weeks (T1) and up to 10 weeks (T2; follow-up)
MFIS-BR is a tool composed by 21 items stratified into 3 domains
From date of randomization (1 week before intervention beginning) up to 5 weeks (T1) and up to 10 weeks (T2; follow-up)

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Pain Level
Time Frame: From date of randomization (1 week before intervention beginning) up to 5 weeks (T1) and up to 10 weeks (T2; follow-up)
Pain level will be evaluated through McGill questionnaire.
From date of randomization (1 week before intervention beginning) up to 5 weeks (T1) and up to 10 weeks (T2; follow-up)
Functional Capacity
Time Frame: From date of randomization (1 week before intervention beginning) up to 5 weeks (T1) and up to 10 weeks (T2; follow-up)
Functional capacity will be evaluated by Lawton and Brody scale and also by 6 minutes walking test.
From date of randomization (1 week before intervention beginning) up to 5 weeks (T1) and up to 10 weeks (T2; follow-up)
Quality of Life
Time Frame: From date of randomization (1 week before intervention beginning) up to 5 weeks (T1) and up to 10 weeks (T2; follow-up)
Quality of life will be measured through Brazilian version of World Health Organization Quality of Life.
From date of randomization (1 week before intervention beginning) up to 5 weeks (T1) and up to 10 weeks (T2; follow-up)
Pulmonary Function
Time Frame: From date of randomization (1 week before intervention beginning) up to 5 weeks (T1) and up to 10 weeks (T2; follow-up)
This outcome will be assessed through spirometry, assessment of maximal inspiratory pressure and respiratory endurance.
From date of randomization (1 week before intervention beginning) up to 5 weeks (T1) and up to 10 weeks (T2; follow-up)
Body Composition
Time Frame: From date of randomization (1 week before intervention beginning) up to 5 weeks (T1) and up to 10 weeks (T2; follow-up)
Body composition analysis will be carried out by bioelectrical impedance analysis.
From date of randomization (1 week before intervention beginning) up to 5 weeks (T1) and up to 10 weeks (T2; follow-up)
Anxiety
Time Frame: From date of randomization (1 week before intervention beginning) up to 5 weeks (T1) and up to 10 weeks (T2; follow-up)
Anxiety level will be evaluated through Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale.
From date of randomization (1 week before intervention beginning) up to 5 weeks (T1) and up to 10 weeks (T2; follow-up)
Depression
Time Frame: From date of randomization (1 week before intervention beginning) up to 5 weeks (T1) and up to 10 weeks (T2; follow-up)
Depression will be assessed by Beck's Depression Inventory.
From date of randomization (1 week before intervention beginning) up to 5 weeks (T1) and up to 10 weeks (T2; follow-up)
Self-efficacy
Time Frame: Self-efficacy will be assessed after intervention ending.
Self-efficacy will be evaluated through the Self-efficacy manage chronic disease 6-item scale.
Self-efficacy will be assessed after intervention ending.

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (ACTUAL)

September 14, 2021

Primary Completion (ANTICIPATED)

April 14, 2022

Study Completion (ANTICIPATED)

July 14, 2022

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

March 16, 2022

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

March 18, 2022

First Posted (ACTUAL)

March 21, 2022

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (ACTUAL)

March 21, 2022

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

March 18, 2022

Last Verified

March 1, 2022

More Information

Terms related to this study

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.

Yes

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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