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CompletedNCT03471338SEPIAUpdated Jul 25, 2025

Neuropsychological Management of Multiple Sclerosis: Benefits of a Computerised Semi-autonomous At-home Cognitive Rehabilitation Programme

An interventional study of Cognitive rehabilitation and Standard Psychological care in Relapsing Remitting Multiple Sclerosis and Secondary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis, sponsored by University Hospital, Caen. Completed at 1 site in France. Open to participants aged 18 Years to 65 Years. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2025-07-25.

Sponsored by University Hospital, Caen · Not applicable, Interventional, and Other

From the registry’s dates

  • Registered 4 months after the study started (first participant enrolled Oct 2017, registered Mar 2018).
Phase
Not applicable
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
40
Allocation
Randomized
Ages
18 Years to 65 Years
Sex
All
01

Study summary

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a central nervous system inflammatory disease that causes a chronic and progressive physical handicap. Though primarily considered as a motor disease, it may, in 40 to 65% of cases, cause cognitive function deficits, concerning mainly attention, information processing speed, executive functions and memory. The impairment of these various functions may significantly impair the patients' social, professional and family lives. As such, the presence of cognitive difficulties is more frequently associated with the onset of anxio-depressive psychiatric symptoms and with reduced quality of life to the extent that it can be estimated via psychometric scales, or by a more qualitative approach. Recent research has focused, not on demonstrating the existence of cognitive disorders in MS, but rather on attempting to reduce their daily impact through cognitive rehabilitation programmes. While encouraging, the available results are relatively discordant and further work is required to demonstrate the actual efficacy of such programmes applied to daily life and of their long-term effects.

The main objective of this work is to evaluate, in patients suffering from MS and presenting with cognitive disorders and/or with complaints, the effect of an innovative computerised, semi-autonomous at-home cognitive rehabilitation programme, following care, on quality of life. The secondary objective is to estimate the improvement, or even stabilisation over time, of patients' cognitive performance and psycho-affective sphere.

In this randomised trial, the investigators plan to include 40 patients suffering from the RR and SP forms of MS, distributed to two groups paired by age, gender and socio-cultural level, one of which will benefit from computerised management, along with at-home support from a psychologist, while the other receives only the support.

This work is expected to provide two types of benefits. Firstly, to enable patients to better understand their cognitive function via daily management and as such to improve their quality of life and self-esteem. Secondly, to eventually allow more appropriate patient management by combining the quasi-systematic use of this programme with follow-up consultations with referring practitioners (neurologists, psychologists, etc.).

02

Conditions studied

  • Relapsing Remitting Multiple Sclerosis
  • Secondary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis

Keywords

  • multiple sclerosis
  • cognition
  • neuropsychology
  • cognitive rehabilitation
03

In context

Multiple Sclerosis, Relapsing-Remitting

618 studies on the registry are indexed under Multiple Sclerosis, Relapsing-Remitting; 82 are open to participants now.

This study's enrollment of 40 is below the median of 66 across 437 interventional studies indexed under Multiple Sclerosis, Relapsing-Remitting.

Browse Multiple Sclerosis, Relapsing-Remitting studies →

Lead sponsor

University Hospital, Caen is the lead sponsor of 512 studies on the registry; 82 are open to participants now.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
18 Years to 65 Years
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
No

Go through the criteria one by one — yes, no or not sure — and take the list to your doctor or the study team. Kept in this browser only.

Inclusion criteria

  • MS defined according to the McDonald criteria revised in 2010
  • Men and women aged between 18 and 65 years
  • RR and SP forms
  • Duration of progression ≤ 25 years
  • EDSS ≤ 5.5
  • Lack of disease activity as defined by the new Lublin criteria (2013)
  • Cognitive complaint and/or cognitive disorders according to the investigator's judgement
  • Impaired cognitive performance at least 1.65 SD below normative data at one test of the BCcogSEP battery
  • French native language
  • Owner of a laptop computer with Internet access
  • Signing of the

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • - Other neurological, psychiatric or developmental diseases prior to the MS diagnosis
  • Cranial trauma sequelae
  • Chronic alcohol and/or drug consumption
  • EDSS > 6
  • Relapse and/or treatment with within the past month
  • Persons deprived of liberty, minors, adults under wardship
  • Cognitive examination within the past 6 months (including in particular all or some of the tests proposed by this project)
  • Presence of dementia according to DSM V criteria, or of cognitive disorders preventing the patient from undergoing cognitive tests or performing cognitive rehabilitation exercises
  • Any visual or motor deficit preventing the patient from undergoing cognitive tests or performing cognitive rehabilitation exercises
Terms in these criteria, in plain language(2)

Underlined terms in the criteria open these too. Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.

Informed consent

Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.

You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.

Corticosteroids (steroids)

Anti-inflammatory medicines such as prednisone, prednisolone and dexamethasone — not the anabolic steroids used for muscle.

Studies differ in what they allow: check which steroid medicines, routes (tablets, injections, creams, inhalers, eye drops) and doses this study accepts.

05

Study design

Phase
Not applicable
Primary purpose
Other
Allocation
Randomized
Intervention model
Factorial assignment
Masking
None (open label)
Enrollment
40 participants (actual)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    Experimental Group

    Patients benefit cognitive rehabilitation

    Behavioral: Cognitive rehabilitation

  • Sham comparator
    Standard Psychological care

    Patients do not benefit cognitive rehabilitation

    Behavioral: Standard Psychological care

Interventions

  • BehavioralCognitive rehabilitation

    At-site inclusion visit: assessment of patient's eligibility by cognitive complaint questionnaire and BCcogSEP, VAPS and multiple errands test conducted by neuropsychologist. At-site baseline visit: assessment of quality of life (MUSIQOL), self-esteem (SEI), depression (MADRS), anxiety (HAMA), BICAMS: SDMT, CVLT-II, BVMTR, metacognition (MCQ-30), fatigue (EMIF-SEP), subjective sleep quality (PSQI) conducted by a neuropsychologist. At-home neuropsychological management (9 weeks): The patient performs the program (PRESCO software) on his computer autonomously at home at a rate of 3 sessions per week. A neuropsychologist performs at-home visits and weekly phone meetings to train the patient to the software, to encourage him to do exercises and to answer any software use-related questions. At-site follow-up visits: short and long-term retest of assessments performed in inclusion visit.

  • BehavioralStandard Psychological care

    At-site inclusion visit: assessment of patient's eligibility by cognitive complaint questionnaire and BCcogSEP, VAPS and multiple errands test conducted by neuropsychologist. At-site baseline visit: assessment of quality of life (MUSIQOL), self-esteem (SEI), depression (MADRS), anxiety (HAMA), BICAMS: SDMT, CVLT-II, BVMTR, metacognition (MCQ-30), fatigue (EMIF-SEP), subjective sleep quality (PSQI) conducted by a neuropsychologist. At-home neuropsychological management (9 weeks): A neuropsychologist performs at-home visits and weekly phone meetings consisting in discussion of the patient's cognitive disorders. At-site follow-up visits: short and long-term retest of assessments performed in inclusion visit.

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Efficacy of cognitive rehabilitation on quality of life at short term.

    Quality of life will be assessed by measuring the change of the scores of MUSIQOL (MUltiple Sclerosis International Quality Of Life) questionnaire between baseline and short-term visits. Efficacy will be assessed by comparing theses scores between groups A and B.

    Time frame: 10 weeks

  2. Efficacy of cognitive rehabilitation on quality of life at long term.

    Quality of life will be assessed by measuring the change of the scores of MUSIQOL (MUltiple Sclerosis International Quality Of Life) questionnaire between baseline and long-term visits. Efficacy will be assessed by comparing theses scores between groups A and B.

    Time frame: 34 weeks

Secondary outcomes

  1. Efficacy of cognitive rehabilitation on self-esteem at short term.

    Self-esteem will be assessed by measuring the change of the scores of the SEI (Self Esteem Inventory) scale between baseline and short-term. Efficacy will be assessed by comparing theses scores between groups A and B.

    Time frame: 10 weeks

  2. Efficacy of cognitive rehabilitation on self-esteem long term.

    Self-esteem will be assessed by measuring the change of the scores of the SEI (Self Esteem Inventory) scale between baseline and long-term visits. Efficacy will be assessed by comparing theses scores between groups A and B.

    Time frame: 34 weeks

  3. Efficacy of cognitive rehabilitation on depression at short term.

    Depression will be assessed by measuring the change of the scores of MADRS (Montgomery and Asberg Depression Rating Scale) questionnaire between baseline and short-term visits. Efficacy will be assessed by comparing theses scores between groups A and B.

    Time frame: 10 weeks

  4. Efficacy of cognitive rehabilitation on depression at long term.

    Depression will be assessed by measuring the change of the scores of MADRS (Montgomery and Asberg Depression Rating Scale) questionnaire between baseline and long-term visits. Efficacy will be assessed by comparing theses scores between groups A and B.

    Time frame: 34 weeks

  5. Efficacy of cognitive rehabilitation on cognition at short term.

    Cognition will be assessed by measuring the change of the scores of the BICAMS (Brief International Assessment for Multiple Sclerosis) battery between baseline and short-term visits. Efficacy will be assessed by comparing theses scores between groups A and B.

    Time frame: 10 weeks

  6. Efficacy of cognitive rehabilitation on cognition at long term.

    Cognition will be assessed by measuring the change of the scores of the BICAMS (Brief International Assessment for Multiple Sclerosis) battery between baseline and long-term visits. Efficacy will be assessed by comparing theses scores between groups A and B.

    Time frame: 34 weeks

  7. Efficacy of cognitive rehabilitation on metacognition at short term.

    Metacognition will be assessed by measuring the change of the scores of the MCQ-30 (Metacognitions Questionnaire-30) scale between baseline and long-term visits. Efficacy will be assessed by comparing theses scores between groups A and B.

    Time frame: 10 weeks

  8. Efficacy of cognitive rehabilitation on metacognition at long term.

    Metacognition will be assessed by measuring the change of the scores of the MCQ-30 (Metacognitions Questionnaire-30) scale between baseline and long-term visits. Efficacy will be assessed by comparing theses scores between groups A and B.

    Time frame: 34 weeks

  9. Efficacy of cognitive rehabilitation on fatigue at short term

    Fatigue will be assessed by measuring the change of the scores of the EMIF-SEP (Echelle Modifiée d'Impact de la Fatigue dans la Sclérose En Plaques) scale between baseline and short-term visits. Efficacy will be assessed by comparing theses scores between groups A and B.

    Time frame: 10 weeks

  10. Efficacy of cognitive rehabilitation on fatigue at long term

    Fatigue will be assessed by measuring the change of the scores of the EMIF-SEP (Echelle Modifiée d'Impact de la Fatigue dans la Sclérose En Plaques) scale between baseline and long-term visits. Efficacy will be assessed by comparing theses scores between groups A and B.

    Time frame: 34 weeks

  11. Efficacy of cognitive rehabilitation on sleep at short term

    Sleep will be assessed by measuring the change of the scores of the PSQI (Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index) questionnaire between baseline and short-term visits. Efficacy will be assessed by comparing theses scores between groups A and B.

    Time frame: 10 weeks

  12. Efficacy of cognitive rehabilitation on sleep at long term

    Sleep will be assessed by measuring the change of the scores of the PSQI (Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index) questionnaire between baseline and long-term visits. Efficacy will be assessed by comparing theses scores between groups A and B.

    Time frame: 34 weeks

  13. Efficacy of cognitive rehabilitation on anxiety at short term.

    Anxiety will be assessed by measuring the change of the scores of HAMA (HAMilton Anxiety) scale between baseline and short-term visits. Efficacy will be assessed by comparing theses scores between groups A and B.

    Time frame: 10 weeks

  14. Efficacy of cognitive rehabilitation on anxiety at long term.

    Anxiety will be assessed by measuring the change of the scores of HAMA (HAMilton Anxiety) scale between baseline and long-term visits. Efficacy will be assessed by comparing theses scores between groups A and B.

    Time frame: 34 weeks

07

Study locations

1 site
  • University Hospital of Caen
    Caen, Calvados 14000, France
08

Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Jul 25, 2025, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
09

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT03471338
Responsible party
Sponsor
First posted
Mar 20, 2018
Start date
Oct 31, 2017
Primary completion
May 31, 2023
Completion
May 31, 2024
Last update
Jul 25, 2025

Study contacts

Gilles Defer, Pr
principal investigator · Neurology Department, Caen University Hospital

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
No
FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
No
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

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