NCT06042777

Non-pharmacological and TCM-based Treatment for Long COVID Symptoms

Status unknown NA Last updated 21 September 2023

What this trial tests

NA trial testing Acupuncture and TCM-based lifestyle management in Long Covid19 in 100 participants. Status unknown.

Timeline

30 September 2023

Primary endpoint
31 May 2024

31 August 2024

Quick facts

Lead sponsor	The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Phase	NA
Status	Status unknown
Study type	INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation	randomized
Design	parallel
Masking	single
Primary purpose	treatment
Enrollment	100
Start date	30 September 2023
Primary completion	31 May 2024
Estimated completion	31 August 2024

Drugs / interventions tested

• Acupuncture and TCM-based lifestyle management

Conditions studied

• Long Covid19 — all drugs for Long Covid19 →

Sponsor

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Who can join

18 and older, any sex, with Long Covid19. Patients with the condition only — healthy volunteers not accepted.

Sponsor's own description

Cognitive impairment is one of the commonly reported Long COVID symptoms, mainly in terms of memory, attention, and executive function. The cognitive symptoms of Long COVID are similar to "brain fog" or "chemo brain", manifested as low energy, disorientation, difficulties in attention and communication which are common conditions in cancer patients after chemotherapy. Given the negative impact of such cognitive impairment in daily living and working, it is important to develop effective treatment and self-management techniques to enhance cognitive functions in COVID-19 survivors. Acupuncture, acupressure, dantian breathing, and qigong are promising treatment and self-management techniques to remedy the cognitive impairment in people with Long COVID. Since acupressure, dantian breathing, and qigong are feasible for self-practice, they can be trained to promote a healthy lifestyle. The present study is a randomized controlled trial to evaluate the efficacy of acupuncture, lifestyle management (including dantian breathing, qigong, and acupressure), and acupuncture + lifestyle management to improve general cognitive function of people with Long COVID symptoms, compared with wait-list control. We will recruit 100 COVID-19 survivors who experience at least mild cognitive impairment and/or self-complaint of cognitive difficulty for at least 12 weeks after clinical recovery from COVID-19 infection. They will be randomly assigned to the following groups: (1) Acupuncture Group; (2) Lifestyle Management Group; (3) Acupuncture + Lifestyle Management Group; and (4) Waitlist Control Group. Acupuncture and lifestyle management will each take 8 weeks, with two 50-min sessions per week. Primary outcome is general cognitive function. Secondary outcomes cover fatigue, physical fitness, neurocognitive function, psychological distress, and health-related quality of life, pro-inflammatory cytokines (IL-6, TNF-α) and salivary cortisol. Assessment will be conducted at baseline, mid-intervention (4 weeks after baseline), post-intervention (8 weeks after baseline), and 4-week follow-up (12 weeks after baseline).

Publications & conference data

1 peer-reviewed publication reference this trial (live from Europe PMC):

1. Neurological, psychological, psychosocial complications of long-COVID and their management.
   Narayanan SN, Padiyath S, Chandrababu K, Raj L, et al · · 2025 · cited 7× · PMID 39516425 · DOI 10.1007/s10072-024-07854-5