RT Journal Article
T1 Transcranial direct current stimulation for post-COVID fatigue: a randomized, double-blind, controlled pilot study
A1 Oliver-Mas, Silvia
A1 Delgado-Alonso, Cristina
A1 Delgado Álvarez, Alfonso
A1 Díez-Cirarda, María
A1 Cuevas, Constanza
A1 Fernández-Romero, Lucía
A1 Matias-Guiu, Andreu
A1 Valles-Salgado, María
A1 Gil-Martínez, Lidia
A1 Gil-Moreno, María José
A1 Yus, Miguel
A1 Matías-Guiu Guía, Jorge
A1 Matias-Guiu, Jordi A
AB Abstract: Fatigue is one of the most frequent and disabling symptoms of the post-COVID syndrome. In this study, we aimed to assess the effects of transcranial direct current stimulation on fatigue severity in a group of patients with post-COVID syndrome and chronic fatigue. We conducted a double-blind, parallel-group, sham-controlled study to evaluate the short-term effects of anodal transcranial direct current stimulation (2 mA, 20 min/day) on the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. The modified fatigue impact scale score was used as the primary endpoint. Secondary endpoints included cognition (Stroop test), depressive symptoms (Beck depression inventory) and quality of life (EuroQol-5D). Patients received eight sessions of transcranial direct current stimulation and were evaluated at baseline, immediately after the last session, and one month later. Forty-seven patients were enrolled (23 in the active treatment group and 24 in the sham treatment group); the mean age was 45.66 ± 9.49 years, and 37 (78.72%) were women. The mean progression time since the acute infection was 20.68 ± 6.34 months. Active transcranial direct current stimulation was associated with a statistically significant improvement in physical fatigue at the end of treatment and 1 month as compared with sham stimulation. No significant effect was detected for cognitive fatigue. In terms of secondary outcomes, active transcranial direct current stimulation was associated with an improvement in depressive symptoms at the end of treatment. The treatment had no effects on the quality of life. All the adverse events reported were mild and transient, with no differences between the active stimulation and sham stimulation groups. In conclusion, our results suggest that transcranial direct current stimulation on the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex may improve physical fatigue. Further studies are needed to confirm these findings and optimize stimulation protocols.
PB Oxford Academic
SN 2632-1297
YR 2023
FD 2023
LK https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/103899
UL https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/103899
LA eng
NO Silvia Oliver-Mas, Cristina Delgado-Alonso, Alfonso Delgado-Álvarez, María Díez-Cirarda, Constanza Cuevas, Lucía Fernández-Romero, Andreu Matias-Guiu, María Valles-Salgado, Lidia Gil-Martínez, María José Gil-Moreno, Miguel Yus, Jorge Matias-Guiu, Jordi A Matias-Guiu, Transcranial direct current stimulation for post-COVID fatigue: a randomized, double-blind, controlled pilot study, Brain Communications, 5 (2), 2023, , https://doi.org/10.1093/braincomms/fcad117
NO Comunidad de Madrid
NO European Commission
NO Instituto de Salud Carlos III
DS Docta Complutense
RD 17 dic 2025