Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42698289›Full record

Trial reportStress and health : journal of the International Society for the Investigation of Stress2026

Extended Long-Term Effects of Cognitive and Aerobic Training on Cognitive Function in Patients With Stress-Related Exhaustion Disorder: A 4.5-Year Follow-Up of a Randomized Controlled Trial.

Ingela Aronsson, Anna Stigsdotter Neely, Carl-Johan Boraxbekk, Therese Eskilsson, Hanna M Gavelin

Abstract readRandomized Controlled Trial
In one paragraph

Trial report in Stress and health : journal of the International Society for the Investigation of Stress, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
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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.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

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

5 authors.

Ingela AronssonDepartment of Psychology, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4161-8101
Anna Stigsdotter NeelyDepartment of Health, Education and Technology, Luleå University of Technology, Luleå, Sweden.
Carl-Johan BoraxbekkInstitute for Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4458-6475
Therese EskilssonDepartment of Public Health and Clinical Medicine, Section for Sustainable Health, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden.
Hanna M GavelinDepartment of Psychology, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3256-9018

Funding

AFA Försäkring 150175Försäkringskassan 99368-2009/RS09Forskningsrådet om Hälsa, Arbetsliv och Välfärd 2009-0772Forskningsrådet om Hälsa, Arbetsliv och Välfärd 2020-01111Västerbotten Läns Landsting
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Stress-related conditions like clinical burnout and exhaustion disorder (ED) are associated with enduring cognitive problems. We have previously demonstrated that the addition of computerised cognitive training (CCT) and aerobic training (AT) to a multimodal rehabilitation programme (MMR) yielded greater improvements in cognitive function compared to MMR alone in patients with ED. These effects were maintained at the 1-year follow-up for CCT, but not for AT. Building on these findings, the present study examined the extended long-term effects of CCT and AT on cognitive function, psychological health, and work ability, 4.5 years after the interventions. Participants were recruited from a stress-rehabilitation clinic and 56 of the initial 132 participants returned for the 4.5-year follow-up. Assessments were conducted before (T1), immediately after (T2), 1-year after (T3) and 4.5-years after (T4) the interventions. Mixed model analyses assessed changes in the intervention groups relative to the control group from T1 to T4, with follow-up comparisons examining within-group stability of outcomes between T3 to T4. The primary outcome was cognitive performance on a global cognitive score. Secondary outcomes included domain-specific cognitive functioning, self-reported cognitive function, psychological health (burnout, depression, anxiety, and fatigue), and work ability. The analysis revealed sustained long-term effects on the global cognitive score, a trained updating task and episodic memory in the CCT group, with stable performance between one- and 4.5-year follow-up. The addition of AT did not yield any extended long-term effects on cognitive performance. Both groups showed extended long-term improvements in self-reported memory problems, although findings were mixed. Extended long-term improvements were observed on burnout for both groups, with additional effects on anxiety and work ability in the AT group. Notably, these effects were not present at the 1-year follow-up and are more plausibly explained by selective attrition rather than a delayed intervention effect. In conclusion, the result indicates that cognitive interventions such as CCT can have lasting positive effects on cognitive function in patients with ED, whereas the long-term psychological effects should be interpreted with caution.

trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov: NCT0073772.

Indexed as

CognitionCognitive TrainingEmotional ExhaustionExercise TherapyStress, PsychologicalAdultFemaleFollow-Up StudiesHumansMaleMiddle Agedaerobic functionclinical burnoutcognitive functionexhaustion disorderlong‐term effectsstress‐related ill health

Identifiers

PMID42698289
PMCPMC13545551

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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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.