This study will assess the acceptability, feasibility, and impact of game-based computer-delivered cognitive training on cognitive function in persons with cognitive symptoms that persist after recovery from acute coronavirus-19 (COVID) infection.
Over the course of the past several years, it has become apparent that a number of individuals have residual symptoms after COVID-19 infection after they have recovered from the acute phase of the illness (Al-Aly, Xie, \& Bowe, 2021; Davis et al., 2021; Greenhalgh, Knight, A'Court, Buxton, \& Husain, 2020; Hewitt et al., 2021). The constellation of symptoms experienced by these individuals has been termed "post-acute COVID syndrome" or PACS (Nalbandian et al., 2021). A key part of helping affected individuals is supporting their efforts at self-management of these symptoms (National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, 2020; Wade, 2020). Although a diverse number of physical and psychological symptoms have been seen as sequelae of COVID (Davis et al., 2021), among the most troubling for patients have been difficulties in attention, concentration, working memory, and long-term memory, commonly referred to as "brain fog" (Graham et al., 2021; Hampshire et al., 2021; Hewitt et al., 2021). In the proposed study, we will complete a pilot study of game-based cognitive training in persons with symptoms of long COVID using a protocol that was useful and acceptable to participants in a previous study (Ownby \& Kim, 2021). We will explore participants' views on the cognitive training intervention, its effects on their perceived cognitive functioning, and assess the intervention's impact on participants' processing speed. We will also explore their preferences for type of cognitive training activity and the impact of information about memory functioning.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
NA
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE
Enrollment
16
Gamified cognitive training intervention to improve mental speed and attention.
Center for Collaborative Research, Nova Southeastern University
Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States
Technology Acceptance Model Questionnaire, Usefulness subscale
User self-report of their perception that an application serves a function that may be helpful The score is the average of several items rated by the user from 0 to 6, so that the final score itself can range from 0 to 6. Higher scores indicate that the user found the intervention more useful. Higher scores are better.
Time frame: Three weeks
Cognitive Failures Questionnaire
A standard self-report measure of problems in memory, attention, and self-regulated behavior. This measures includes self-report ratings on 25 items, with ratings ranging from 0 to 4. The total score can thus range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating that the person experiences more problems with thinking and remembering.
Time frame: Three weeks
Trail Making Test, Part B
This is a measure of how rapidly a person can remember alternating sequences of numbers and letters while connecting them on a paper with a pencil. The score is time in seconds to complete the task, with the provision that if a person cannot finish the task within three minutes, the task is discontinued and the person is assigned a score of 180 (for 3 minutes times 60 seconds). Lower scores indicate better performance.
Time frame: Three weeks
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