Publication date: Jun 05, 2025
Objective To synthesise quantitative evidence on the effectiveness of Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) as an intervention for individuals with long COVID/post-COVID syndrome. Introduction An estimated 65 million people worldwide meet the WHOs criteria for post-COVID-19 condition, a multisystem disorder with persistent symptoms following SARS-CoV-2 infection. Despite its global impact, effective treatments are limited. A recent review highlighted early but promising results from non-invasive brain stimulation techniques, including transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), though the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. Given the expanding use of TMS in long COVID, a follow-up meta-analysis is needed to reflect recent developments. This review aims to evaluate the efficacy of TMS in treating post-COVID-19 symptoms. Inclusion criteria This review will include studies that investigate interventions involving TMSin individuals diagnosed with long COVID or post-COVID syndrome, limited to those published in the English language. Studies will be excluded if they do not involve rTMS as a therapeutic intervention, do not involve TMS at all, focus on populations other than those with long COVID or post-COVID condition, are review articles or case studies, or are not published in English. Methods A comprehensive search will be conducted in CINAHL Ultimate, MEDLINE, ScienceDirect, and Scopus using a strategy developed with the research team. Retrieved citations will be managed in Rayyan. Two independent reviewers will screen titles and abstracts, followed by full-text screening and data extraction by two other independent reviewers. All stages will follow predefined, pilot-tested inclusion and exclusion criteria. Discrepancies will be resolved by a third reviewer or team discussion. Intra-rater reliability at both screening stages will be assessed using Cohens Kappa. Study characteristics and findings will be presented using both narrative synthesis and tabular formats. Review registration https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/RE235
| Concepts | Keywords |
|---|---|
| August | Covid |
| Diabetes | Doi |
| Psychology | Fatigue |
| Https | |
| Long | |
| Magnetic | |
| Medrxiv | |
| Org | |
| Post | |
| Preprint | |
| Rtms | |
| Stimulation | |
| Symptoms | |
| Tms |
Semantics
| Type | Source | Name |
|---|---|---|
| drug | DRUGBANK | Tilmicosin |
| disease | MESH | Long COVID |
| disease | IDO | intervention |
| disease | MESH | syndrome |
| disease | MESH | COVID-19 |
| pathway | REACTOME | SARS-CoV-2 Infection |
| disease | IDO | symptom |
| disease | MESH | infection |
| disease | IDO | acute infection |
| disease | MESH | cognitive impairments |
| disease | MESH | Myalgic Encephalomyelitis |
| disease | MESH | breathlessness |
| disease | MESH | abnormalities |
| disease | MESH | musculoskeletal pain |
| drug | DRUGBANK | Methionine |
| disease | MESH | hyposmia |
| disease | MESH | tremor |
| disease | MESH | anxiety |
| disease | MESH | depression |
| disease | IDO | history |
| disease | MESH | psychological distress |
| disease | MESH | neurological disorders |
| disease | IDO | entity |
| disease | MESH | brain fog |
| drug | DRUGBANK | Isoxaflutole |
| disease | IDO | process |
| disease | MESH | sequelae |
| disease | IDO | site |
| drug | DRUGBANK | Sodium lauryl sulfate |
| disease | IDO | country |
| disease | IDO | quality |
| disease | MESH | clinical relevance |
| drug | DRUGBANK | Coenzyme M |
| disease | MESH | neurological manifestations |
| drug | DRUGBANK | Rosiglitazone |
| disease | MESH | treatment resistant depression |