Evidence mapPaperPMID 42521821Full record

Trial reportNature medicine2026

Integrated care pathway in individuals with Long COVID: STIMULATE-ICP, a cluster-randomized, phase 3 trial.

STIMULATE-ICP Consortium

Abstract readRandomized Controlled TrialMulticenter StudyClinical Trial, Phase III
PubMed Publisher
In one paragraph

Trial report in Nature medicine, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

1 author.

STIMULATE-ICP Consortium

Funding

DH | National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) COV-LT2-0043
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Combining multidisciplinary care plans into integrated care pathways (ICPs) is scalable, generalizable and effective for several long-term conditions, but not evaluated in Long COVID (LC). Our phase 3, cluster-randomized, multicenter clinical trial investigated the effectiveness of ICP interventions for LC. Recruitment of adults ≥18 years with LC was conducted in 6 National Health Service LC clinics in England with specialist ICPs. The intervention arms were (i) multi-organ magnetic resonance imaging (MRI; Coverscan), (ii) digital rehabilitation (Living with COVID Recovery), (iii) both multi-organ MRI and digital rehabilitation, and (iv) neither multi-organ MRI nor digital rehabilitation (usual care); cluster randomizing at primary care network (PCN) level to deliver interventions as 'standard of care' in that area. The primary endpoint was mean Fatigue Assessment Scale (FAS) at 12 weeks. Secondary endpoints included FAS at 24 weeks and EQ-5D-5L visual assessment scale at 12 and 24 weeks. A total of 1,152 participants from allocated PCNs consented to data collection, and 122 PCN clusters were allocated to the multi-organ MRI (33 PCNs), digital rehabilitation (32 PCNs), 'both' (27 PCNs) and 'neither' (30 PCNs) arms. Baseline FAS was equivalent across groups (mean 35.8, s.d. 8.21, 66.4% female). Overall, the primary outcome was achieved in all arms, with scores improving by 4.5 points to 31.3 (s.d. 9.31) at 12 weeks. Compared with usual care, effects on 12-week FAS were -0.18 (95% confidence interval -0.72, 1.09; P = 0.69) with multi-organ MRI; -0.53 (-1.42, 0.36; P = 0.25) with digital rehabilitation; and -0.17 (-1.06, 0.72; P = 0.71) with their interaction. Absolute differences for other interventions from usual care were modest. There were no serious adverse events related to ICP interventions. Multidisciplinary holistic clinical care is associated with fatigue reduction in LC, irrespective of multi-organ MRI. Digital rehabilitation could be useful in longer-term LC management. Large, multi-site trials of optimal ICP interventions are feasible, but further trials are required. ISRCTN identifier: ISRCTN10665760 .

Indexed as

COVID-19Delivery of Health Care, IntegratedAdultAgedBetacoronavirusEnglandFatigueFemaleHumansMagnetic Resonance ImagingMaleMiddle AgedPandemicsPost-Acute COVID-19 SyndromePrimary Health CareSARS-CoV-2

Identifiers

What Socratic holds

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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.