Effect of neuro-linguistic programming on COVID-19 fear in kidney transplant patients: A randomized controlled study.

The trial had no active comparator, so the reduction in fear scores cannot be separated from attention, reassurance, or simply being assigned to an intervention group. Only one NLP submodality session was delivered by phone by the author, a certified NLP practitioner, so it is unclear whether the technique, the person, or the format produced the change. Participants were discharged kidney transplant patients with high or moderate fear of COVID-19 at one university hospital, so the result may not apply to other patients, lower fear levels, or face-to-face care. The outcome was self-reported fear on a 7 to 35 scale measured only one week later, with no longer follow-up or objective clinical outcomes. Many people on the randomization list were not analysed: 125 were called, 22 were excluded for communication problems, 15 had died, 10 experimental and 4 control participants left, and 74 were analysed. The paper reports a single-blind design, but it does not state that the person collecting outcome scores was blinded.

No funding was received and the authors declared no competing interest. The author delivering the intervention was a certified NLP practitioner.

Do not conclude that NLP itself caused the fear reduction. The study had no active comparator, so the one-week drop in fear scores could reflect attention, reassurance, or being included in an intervention group rather than the NLP technique.