SynthesisJournal of rehabilitation medicine2026
Effectiveness of physical, psychological, and alternative interventions for post-COVID-19 condition: a systematic review.
Synthesis in Journal of rehabilitation medicine, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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
0 citing papers in PubMed.
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Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveTo evaluate supervised physical, psycho-logical, and alternative non-pharmacological interventions for improving patient-reported and objective functional outcomes in adults with post-COVID-19 condition.
designSystematic review of randomized controlled trials.
methodsPubMed, Web of Science Core Collection, APA PsycInfo, and Scopus were searched from 1 January 2020 to 29 January 2026. Eligible studies were supervised, face-to-face trials evaluating physical, psychological, or alternative non-pharmacological interventions against usual care, placebo/sham, or active comparators in adults with World Health Organization defined post-COVID-19 condition. Risk of bias was assessed using Cochrane RoB 2. Due to clinical and methodological heterogeneity, a narrative synthesis was performed.
results27 trials (1,998 participants) were included and evaluated physical, psychological, and alternative therapies. Supervised cardiopulmonary rehabilitation and multimodal exercise consistently improved cardiorespiratory fitness and walking capacity. Cognitive-behavioural therapy and lifestyle adjustments significantly reduced fatigue and subjective concentration complaints. Findings for neuromodulation, complementary, and oxygen therapies were heterogeneous, often showing no benefit over placebo. Only 18.5% of trials had low risk of bias, limited by small samples, unblinding, and short follow-ups.
conclusionSupervised physical rehabilitation and CBT show promising evidence for improving functional capacity and symptoms in post-COVID-19 condition. Larger trials with longer follow-up are needed to confirm effectiveness and inform clinical guidelines.
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