Psychotherapy in patients with long/post-COVID – A systematic review on the feasibility, acceptability, safety, and efficacy of available and emerging interventions
Marisa Schurr , Johanna Graf , Florian Junne , Katrin Elisabeth Giel
{"title":"Psychotherapy in patients with long/post-COVID – A systematic review on the feasibility, acceptability, safety, and efficacy of available and emerging interventions","authors":"Marisa Schurr , Johanna Graf , Florian Junne , Katrin Elisabeth Giel","doi":"10.1016/j.jpsychores.2025.112048","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Backgrounds</h3><div>There is an urgent need for effective treatments for patients with long/post-COVID. Current recommendations for management favor a multimodal approach including psychotherapy and emphasize that interventions should also consider the mental health impact of living with long/post-COVID. This systematic review synthesizes psychotherapeutic interventions that currently target long/post-COVID complaints and summarizes data on the feasibility, acceptability, safety, and efficacy of psychotherapy for patients with long/post-COVID.</div></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><div>This systematic review was conducted according to the PRISMA statement. Studies were retrieved from three databases (PubMed, PsycInfo, Web of Science) and independently assessed by two raters. Studies investigating patients of any age suffering from long/post-COVID were included if the intervention involved psychotherapeutic treatment and changes in long/post-COVID symptoms were reported. The review has been pre-registered on PROSPERO.</div></div><div><h3>Results</h3><div>A total of 12 studies were included in the analysis. Of these, 10 were multimodal approaches with integrated psychotherapeutic interventions, and two were studies on stand-alone psychotherapy. The majority of studies were uncontrolled and demonstrate pre-post improvements in a range of long/post-COVID symptoms. Only one RCT could be identified, which supports the benefit of CBT for COVID-related fatigue. It was not possible to draw general conclusions regarding the efficacy of psychotherapy for long/post-COVID. However, data on feasibility, acceptability, and safety support the potential of psychotherapy as a treatment approach for long/post-COVID.</div></div><div><h3>Conclusion</h3><div>Future studies investigating the potential of psychotherapy approach for long/post-COVID which go beyond the pilot stage are needed to systematically assess feasibility, acceptability, safety, and efficacy in large-scale confirmatory trials.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50074,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Psychosomatic Research","volume":"190 ","pages":"Article 112048"},"PeriodicalIF":3.5000,"publicationDate":"2025-02-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of Psychosomatic Research","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022399925000121","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"PSYCHIATRY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Backgrounds
There is an urgent need for effective treatments for patients with long/post-COVID. Current recommendations for management favor a multimodal approach including psychotherapy and emphasize that interventions should also consider the mental health impact of living with long/post-COVID. This systematic review synthesizes psychotherapeutic interventions that currently target long/post-COVID complaints and summarizes data on the feasibility, acceptability, safety, and efficacy of psychotherapy for patients with long/post-COVID.
Methods
This systematic review was conducted according to the PRISMA statement. Studies were retrieved from three databases (PubMed, PsycInfo, Web of Science) and independently assessed by two raters. Studies investigating patients of any age suffering from long/post-COVID were included if the intervention involved psychotherapeutic treatment and changes in long/post-COVID symptoms were reported. The review has been pre-registered on PROSPERO.
Results
A total of 12 studies were included in the analysis. Of these, 10 were multimodal approaches with integrated psychotherapeutic interventions, and two were studies on stand-alone psychotherapy. The majority of studies were uncontrolled and demonstrate pre-post improvements in a range of long/post-COVID symptoms. Only one RCT could be identified, which supports the benefit of CBT for COVID-related fatigue. It was not possible to draw general conclusions regarding the efficacy of psychotherapy for long/post-COVID. However, data on feasibility, acceptability, and safety support the potential of psychotherapy as a treatment approach for long/post-COVID.
Conclusion
Future studies investigating the potential of psychotherapy approach for long/post-COVID which go beyond the pilot stage are needed to systematically assess feasibility, acceptability, safety, and efficacy in large-scale confirmatory trials.
背景covid - 19长期/后患者迫切需要有效的治疗。目前的管理建议倾向于采用包括心理治疗在内的多模式方法,并强调干预措施还应考虑长期/后冠状病毒感染对心理健康的影响。本系统综述综合了目前针对长期/后covid患者的心理治疗干预措施,并总结了长期/后covid患者心理治疗的可行性、可接受性、安全性和有效性的数据。方法按照PRISMA声明进行系统评价。研究从三个数据库(PubMed, PsycInfo, Web of Science)中检索,并由两名评分员独立评估。如果干预涉及心理治疗,并且报告了长期/后covid症状的变化,则纳入调查任何年龄的长期/后covid患者的研究。该评论已在PROSPERO上预先注册。结果共纳入12项研究。其中10项是综合心理治疗干预的多模式方法,2项是单独的心理治疗研究。大多数研究是不受控制的,并证明了一系列长期/后covid症状的改善。只能确定一项随机对照试验,这支持CBT对covid相关疲劳的益处。不可能得出关于心理治疗长期/后covid疗效的一般性结论。然而,关于可行性、可接受性和安全性的数据支持心理治疗作为covid后长期治疗方法的潜力。结论需要进一步研究心理疗法治疗长期/后冠状病毒感染的潜力,并在大规模验证性试验中系统评估其可行性、可接受性、安全性和有效性。
期刊介绍:
The Journal of Psychosomatic Research is a multidisciplinary research journal covering all aspects of the relationships between psychology and medicine. The scope is broad and ranges from basic human biological and psychological research to evaluations of treatment and services. Papers will normally be concerned with illness or patients rather than studies of healthy populations. Studies concerning special populations, such as the elderly and children and adolescents, are welcome. In addition to peer-reviewed original papers, the journal publishes editorials, reviews, and other papers related to the journal''s aims.