Computer Cognitive Training for Post-acute COVID-19 Syndrome (PACS-Cog)

March 28, 2024 updated by: Nova Southeastern University

An Open-label Trial of Computer-delivered Cognitive Training in Persons With Post-acute COVID-19 Syndrome

This study will assess the acceptability, feasibility, and impact of game-based computer-delivered cognitive training on cognitive function in persons with cognitive symptoms that persist after recovery from acute coronavirus-19 (COVID) infection.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Over the course of the past several years, it has become apparent that a number of individuals have residual symptoms after COVID-19 infection after they have recovered from the acute phase of the illness (Al-Aly, Xie, & Bowe, 2021; Davis et al., 2021; Greenhalgh, Knight, A'Court, Buxton, & Husain, 2020; Hewitt et al., 2021). The constellation of symptoms experienced by these individuals has been termed "post-acute COVID syndrome" or PACS (Nalbandian et al., 2021). A key part of helping affected individuals is supporting their efforts at self-management of these symptoms (National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, 2020; Wade, 2020). Although a diverse number of physical and psychological symptoms have been seen as sequelae of COVID (Davis et al., 2021), among the most troubling for patients have been difficulties in attention, concentration, working memory, and long-term memory, commonly referred to as "brain fog" (Graham et al., 2021; Hampshire et al., 2021; Hewitt et al., 2021). In the proposed study, we will complete a pilot study of game-based cognitive training in persons with symptoms of long COVID using a protocol that was useful and acceptable to participants in a previous study (Ownby & Kim, 2021). We will explore participants' views on the cognitive training intervention, its effects on their perceived cognitive functioning, and assess the intervention's impact on participants' processing speed. We will also explore their preferences for type of cognitive training activity and the impact of information about memory functioning.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

16

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 Locations

    • Florida
      • Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States, 33314
        • Center for Collaborative Research, Nova Southeastern University

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 and older (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Persons with a history of COVID-19 infection confirmed through screening of symptom pattern or testing and report of mental symptoms (difficulties in attention, memory, or executive functions such as coordinating two activities at once) more than 30 days after resolution of the initial acute infection.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Cognitive or psychiatric conditions of a severity that precludes the person's ability to give informed consent for their participation or to attend and cooperate with assessment and training, as judged by the investigators.

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: N/A
  • Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Cognitive Training
Participants in this condition will received game-based cognitive training.
Gamified cognitive training intervention to improve mental speed and attention.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Technology Acceptance Model Questionnaire, Usefulness subscale
Time Frame: Three weeks
User self-report of their perception that an application serves a function that may be helpful The score is the average of several items rated by the user from 0 to 6, so that the final score itself can range from 0 to 6. Higher scores indicate that the user found the intervention more useful. Higher scores are better.
Three weeks

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Cognitive Failures Questionnaire
Time Frame: Three weeks
A standard self-report measure of problems in memory, attention, and self-regulated behavior. This measures includes self-report ratings on 25 items, with ratings ranging from 0 to 4. The total score can thus range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating that the person experiences more problems with thinking and remembering.
Three weeks
Trail Making Test, Part B
Time Frame: Three weeks
This is a measure of how rapidly a person can remember alternating sequences of numbers and letters while connecting them on a paper with a pencil. The score is time in seconds to complete the task, with the provision that if a person cannot finish the task within three minutes, the task is discontinued and the person is assigned a score of 180 (for 3 minutes times 60 seconds). Lower scores indicate better performance.
Three weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Raymond L Ownby, MD, PhD, Nova Southeastern University

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the 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)

April 26, 2022

Primary Completion (Actual)

November 30, 2023

Study Completion (Actual)

November 30, 2023

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

April 14, 2022

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 19, 2022

First Posted (Actual)

April 21, 2022

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

March 29, 2024

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

March 28, 2024

Last Verified

March 1, 2024

More Information

Terms related to this study

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

YES

IPD Plan Description

Data sharing plan

IPD Sharing Time Frame

After completion of study

IPD Sharing Access Criteria

On request from any qualified investigator.

IPD Sharing Supporting Information Type

  • STUDY_PROTOCOL
  • SAP

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

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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