AID-DCM

  • Research type

    Research Study

  • Full title

    AcceeratIng Diagnosis of Degenerative Cervical Myelopathy of individuals presenting with symptoms compatible with Degenerative Cervical Myelopathy (DCM)

  • IRAS ID

    277620

  • Contact name

    Stephen Kelleher

  • Contact email

    research@addenbrookes.nhs.uk

  • Sponsor organisation

    Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and the University of Cambridge

  • Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier

    n/a, n/a

  • Duration of Study in the UK

    3 years, 6 months, 1 days

  • Research summary

    Degenerative cervical myelopathy (DCM) is a disease of the spinal cord in the neck, caused when it is affected by arthritis of the spine. It can cause a range of whole-body symptoms, including altered sensation, pain, imbalance and falls, weakness and loss of dexterity. Unfortunately, patients today wait years for a diagnosis, and this makes treatment far less effective. Hence, finding ways to diagnose the condition earlier is a critical priority.

    The primary purpose of this study is to characterise the symptoms of DCM, including at the onsent and with progression, using a symptomatology questionnaire (Myelopathy.org Symptom Inventory, MOSI) and a new smartphone-based tool (MoveMed app).

    The MOSI is essentially a questionnaire which is designed to assess your experience of DCM, and its impact on your day-to-day life, at this moment in time. It has been developed in collaboration with Myelopathy.org, a UK charity and its online community of patients. The MoveMed app has been developed to screen and monitor degenerative cervical myelopathy, in collaboration with Myelopathy.org, a UK Charity for DCM. To do so, we need to follow a group of patients who may turn out to have DCM.
    The secondary objective is to assess the predictive ability of both tools in terms of DCM monitoring.

  • REC name

    South Central - Oxford C Research Ethics Committee

  • REC reference

    22/SC/0218

  • Date of REC Opinion

    8 Jul 2022

  • REC opinion

    Favourable Opinion