ME/CFS & Long COVID Service

A new study is being launched by experts at the University of Exeter to look at whether online brain training games are effective at reducing the impact of Long Covid on brain function.

Scientists working on the BEACON six-month clinical trial are looking for adults who are worried about their brain health after having had Covid-19. The study will involve playing a set of brain training games for ten minutes, three times a week. The study will also involve completing a cognitive assessment at the start of the study, at 6 weeks and then at 6 months when the study concludes.

The study, funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research, is being led by the University of Exeter Medical School, in partnership with the Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust and a network of primary care centres.

The trial will be run completely online with people taking part from home. Adults who have had at least one infection with the Covid-19 virus and are worried about their memory or brain health can self-refer to take part in the trial at BEACON study.

For further information please see, Study will test use of brain training games for better brain health in long Covid - News.

We are looking for adults with myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME), also known as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) or Long COVID (LC) to take part in a study to develop a clinical assessment toolkit.

We are working with people with ME/CFS/LC and ME/CFS services to co-produce a series of measurement tools to help identify, understand and quantify people with ME/CFS/LC’s symptoms and disabilities, support goal setting and treatment planning, and monitor changes. Collectively these form the clinical assessment toolkit.   

The 3rd measurement tool assesses activity levels and is called the ME Activity Questionnaire (MEAQ). We would like people with ME/CFS/LC to complete the MEAQ online to check that it captures the issues that are important to people with ME/CFS/LC, is easy to complete, and produces good quality information/ data. We will use the information from this survey to revise this draft tool as needed to produce the final version.

The MEAQ takes 20-30 minutes to complete, but it can be done in ‘chunks’ to aid pacing. It is fine for someone to help you.

If you are interested, further details and the link to complete the survey are below. 

Two weeks after completing the survey, we will send a link to repeat it. This is so we can check how people’s symptoms fluctuate over the short term and whether the MEAQ picks them up.

If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact the chief investigator, Prof Sarah Tyson at Sarah.tyson@manchester.ac.uk

Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/ Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS)

Long COVID