Cognitive impairment, anxiety and depression: a map of Cochrane evidence relevant to rehabilitation for people with post COVID-19 condition.
Claudio Cordani, Vanessa M Young, Chiara Arienti and 4 others
PMID 36534008WHAT IT FOUND
Cochrane reviews show cognitive training, exercise, and memory rehabilitation can help thinking and mood in stroke, cancer, and dementia.
Evidence quality is low to very low. These findings apply to other conditions, not directly to post-COVID-19.
Key findings
01The authors mapped existing Cochrane reviews on cognitive impairment and mental health in other conditions to see what might be relevant to post-COVID-19 rehabilitation.
02Cognitive training and exercise showed some benefit for memory and thinking in stroke and other diseases, but the evidence quality was very low to low.
03Exercise, yoga, and memory rehabilitation showed positive effects on anxiety and depression in conditions like stroke, cancer, and multiple sclerosis, with very low to moderate quality evidence.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTsWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
This is an indirect evidence map. It reviews evidence from other conditions (stroke, cancer, etc.) and suggests what *might* be relevant to PCC, but it does not test these interventions on PCC patients. The quality of evidence in the included reviews is often low or very low. The authors note that other high-quality systematic reviews were not included, so the map is not exhaustive. There is no direct data on efficacy for PCC symptoms in this paper.
Declared interests
No specific funding or conflict of interest statements are provided in the text.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume these treatments are proven effective for post-COVID-19 condition. This paper maps evidence from other diseases. The authors state the evidence quality is low to very low, and direct application to PCC requires checking for specific contraindications like post-exertional symptom exacerbation.