Who benefits most from cognitive rehabilitation? A feasability trial
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Determining Who Benefits Most from Cognitive Rehabilitation for Attention and Memory in Multiple Sclerosis: A Randomised Controlled Feasibility Trial
IRAS ID
293754
Contact name
Roshan das Nair
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Nottingham
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 2 months, 20 days
Research summary
Cognition is a term that refers to the processes that occur in our brain. These cognitive processes include memory, attention, language, information processing, perception, planning, problem solving and so on. 'Cognitive' difficulties mean an individual is experiencing difficulty in any or all of these areas, and these difficulties are thought to effect up to 70% of people with multiple sclerosis (MS). Cognitive rehabilitation is a specialised form of support that focuses on helping or supporting people with MS to improve their cognition, and in turn teaches them to use both internal and external tools to address these difficulties. Despite the many studies that have explored the effectiveness of this intervention, results have been inconclusive. These studies have recruited a broad range of people which may have contributed to the inconclusive results, as it is very unlikely that all people with MS would benefit in exactly the same way. Therefore, we need to explore which subgroups of people with MS benefit most from cognitive rehabilitation.
The aim of this study is to explore which subgroups of people with MS are more likely to benefit from cognitive rehabilitation, to assess the feasibility of conducting a larger study and the acceptability of study procedures. The current study will take place online using video conferencing software.
We will aim to recruit 36 people with MS who report experiencing cognitive difficulties. These participants will be randomly assigned to one of the two groups: (1) online group-based cognitive rehabilitation plus usual care; (2) usual care only. There will be 24 people in the intervention group and 12 people in the control group. The intervention group will be divided into four groups of six for the cognitive rehabilitation and will receive 10 weekly sessions of online cognitive rehabilitation.
REC name
East Midlands - Derby Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
22/EM/0051
Date of REC Opinion
10 May 2022
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion