Evidence map›Paper›PMID 37946190›Full record

ArticleBMC complementary medicine and therapies2023

Effectiveness of an amygdala and insula retraining program combined with mindfulness training to improve the quality of life in patients with long COVID: a randomized controlled trial protocol.

Virginia Gasión, Alberto Barceló-Soler, María Beltrán-Ruiz, Rinchen Hijar-Aguinaga, Loreto Camarero-Grados, Yolanda López-Del-Hoyo, Javier García-Campayo, Jesus Montero-Marin

Registry-linked trialOpen access · goldAbstract readClinical Trial Protocol
In one paragraph

Article in BMC complementary medicine and therapies, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT05956405 (Retraining of the Amygdala and Insula for the Treatment of Persistent Covid), which is not on this map. Cited by 5 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
5citing papers in PubMed
0.6field-weighted citation impact, top 28% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

NCT05956405 nacompletednot on this map

Retraining of the Amygdala and Insula for the Treatment of Persistent Covid

TypeinterventionalSponsorHospital Miguel ServetRan2023 to 2024Enrolled120ConditionsMental Health WellnessArmsAIR + Mindfulness, Relaxation condition
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

5 citing papers in PubMed, 3 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
  2. Systematic Review of Randomized Clinical Trials for the Treatment of Long COVID Syndrome.Journal of community hospital internal medicine perspectives · 2026
    Article
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.

Virginia GasiónAragon Institute for Health Research, IIS Aragon, Zaragoza, Spain.
Alberto Barceló-SolerAragon Institute for Health Research, IIS Aragon, Zaragoza, Spain. a.barcelo@unizar.es.
María Beltrán-RuizAragon Institute for Health Research, IIS Aragon, Zaragoza, Spain.
Rinchen Hijar-AguinagaAragon Institute for Health Research, IIS Aragon, Zaragoza, Spain.
Loreto Camarero-GradosAragon Institute for Health Research, IIS Aragon, Zaragoza, Spain.
Yolanda López-Del-HoyoAragon Institute for Health Research, IIS Aragon, Zaragoza, Spain.
Javier García-CampayoAragon Institute for Health Research, IIS Aragon, Zaragoza, Spain.
Jesus Montero-MarinDepartment of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria Aragón · ESUniversity of Oxford · GB

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThere has been growing clinical awareness in recent years of the long-term physical and psychological consequences of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, known as Long COVID. The prevalence of Long COVID is approximately 10% of those infected by the virus. Long COVID is associated with physical and neuropsychological symptoms, including those related to mental health, psychological wellbeing, and cognition. However, research on psychological interventions is still in its early stages, in which means that available results are still limited. The main objective of this study is to evaluate the effects of a program based on amygdala and insula retraining (AIR) combined with mindfulness training (AIR + Mindfulness) on the improvement of quality of life, psychological well-being, and cognition in patients with Long COVID.

methodsThis study protocol presents a single-blind randomized controlled trial (RCT) that encompasses baseline, post-treatment, and six-month follow-up assessment time points. A total of 100 patients diagnosed with Long COVID by the Spanish National Health Service will be randomly assigned to either AIR + Mindfulness (n = 50) or relaxation intervention (n = 50), the latter as a control group. The primary outcome will be quality of life assessed using the Short Form-36 Health Survey (SF-36). Additional outcomes such as fatigue, pain, anxiety, memory, and sleep quality will also be evaluated. Mixed effects regression models will be used to estimate the effectiveness of the program, and effect size calculations will be made. DISCUSSION: Long COVID syndrome is a clinical condition characterized by the persistence of symptoms for at least 12 weeks after the onset of COVID-19 that significantly affects people's quality of life. This will be the first RCT conducted in Spain to apply a psychotherapy program for the management of symptoms derived from Long COVID. Positive results from this RCT may have a significant impact on the clinical context by confirming the beneficial effect of the intervention program being evaluated on improving the symptoms of Long COVID syndrome and aiding the development of better action strategies for these patients.

trial registrationClinical Trials.gov NCT05956405. Registered on July 20, 2023.

Indexed as

COVID-19MindfulnessHumansPost-Acute COVID-19 SyndromeQuality of LifeRandomized Controlled Trials as TopicSARS-CoV-2Amygdala Insula RetrainingLong COVIDMindfulness trainingPsychological interventionsQuality of lifeRandomized Controlled Trial

Identifiers

PMID37946190
PMCPMC10634181
OpenAlexW4388529875

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.