Trial reportScientific reports2024
Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) in the treatment of neuropsychiatric symptoms of long COVID.
Trial report in Scientific reports, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled 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.
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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
14 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 21 citations in OpenAlex.
- Potential application of brain-gut axis-based treatments in Long COVID and ME/CFS: a case-based systematic review.Journal of translational medicine · 2026Pooled it
- Evaluating the effects of tDCS on depressive and anxiety symptoms from a transdiagnostic perspective: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.Translational psychiatry · 2024Pooled it
- Modulating subjective and objective cognitive state fatigue in long COVID with repetitive anodal tDCS: results from a double-blinded randomized controlled trial.BMC neuroscience · 2026Trial
- Trial
- A randomized comparative feasibility study of neuromodulation and cognitive training for post-COVID fatigue.Scientific reports · 2025Trial
- Effects of transcranial direct current stimulation on pre-competitive cognitive performance and anxiety in collegiate athletes: a randomized controlled trial.Scientific reports · 2025Trial
- Transcranial stimulation as a possible therapeutic proposal in long COVID.Frontiers in rehabilitation sciences · 2026Review
- Systematic Review of Randomized Clinical Trials for the Treatment of Long COVID Syndrome.Journal of community hospital internal medicine perspectives · 2026Article
- Cognitive and Psychological Symptoms in Post-COVID-19 Condition: A Systematic Review of Structural and Functional Neuroimaging, Neurophysiology, and Intervention Studies.Archives of rehabilitation research and clinical translation · 2025Review
- Multidisciplinary collaborative guidance on the assessment and treatment of patients with Long COVID: A compendium statement.PM & R : the journal of injury, function, and rehabilitation · 2025Article
- Advances in magnetic field approaches for non-invasive targeting neuromodulation.Frontiers in human neuroscience · 2025Review
- Translating insights into therapies for Long Covid.Science translational medicine · 2024Review
- Online peer support for mental health in individuals with post-acute sequelae of COVID-19: A pre-post pilot study with mixed methods.PCN reports : psychiatry and clinical neurosciences · 2024Article
- Structural MRI correlates of cognitive and neuropsychiatric symptoms in Long COVID: a pilot study.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
The study aimed to assess the efficacy of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) in the treatment of neuropsychiatric (NP) symptoms of the post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection (PASC), known as the long COVID. A double-blind, randomized, sham-controlled study compared the efficacy and safety of prefrontal cortex active tDCS to sham-tDCS in treating NP-PASC. Patients diagnosed with NP-PASC, with a Fatigue Impact Scale (FIS) score ≥ 40, were eligible for the study. Twenty tDCS sessions were administered within four weeks, with continuous, end-of-treatment, and follow-up measurements. The primary outcome was a change in the FIS at the end-of-treatment, analyzed in the intention-to-treat population. Data from 33 patients assigned to active (n = 16) or sham-tDCS (n = 17) were analyzed. After the treatment, a decrease in the FIS score was more pronounced in the sham than in the active group, yet the intergroup difference was insignificant (11.7 [95% CI -11.1 to 34.5], p = 0.6). Furthermore, no significant intergroup differences were observed regarding anxiety, depression, quality of life, and cognitive performance. The small cohort sample, differences in baseline FIS scores between groups (non-stratified randomization), or chosen stimulation parameters may have influenced our findings. However, it might also be possible that the expected mechanism of action of tDCS is insufficient to treat these conditions.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
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.