DETERMINE-PD
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Identifying delirium in people with Parkinson’s disease (DETERMINE-PD)
IRAS ID
232396
Contact name
Louise Allan
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Newcastle Upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 11 months, 0 days
Research summary
Delirium is a state of mental and emotional confusion that can happen to people if they are unwell. It can be distressing for the person with delirium and their relatives. It is common in older adults but may occur more frequently in people with Parkinson’s. However, delirium has not been previously studied in Parkinson’s. Delirium has overlapping features with Parkinson’s, such as confusion, hallucinations and sleep disturbances. This makes it difficult to diagnose; thus delirium in Parkinson’s may be more common than previously thought. Delirium may cause permanent damage to the brain, making people more likely to develop dementia in the future, or worse for those who already have dementia. It is important that delirium is recognised quickly as it is treatable and early identification can lead to better outcomes.
We will run a pilot study investigating delirium in people with Parkinson’s who are admitted to hospital. Patients with Parkinson’s who are admitted to hospitals in Newcastle upon Tyne will be invited to take part. Researchers will be notified about their admission through an electronic alert; this is a system that is already in use by the hospitals. After people with Parkinson’s and/or their family members have given consent to take part, we will ask them to answer some questions and complete brief assessments to assess delirium during their hospital stay; this will take up to 30 minutes. We will use their medical notes to collect information about their hospital visit, such as how long they stayed in hospital and whether they developed any symptoms of delirium while they were in hospital.
The results from this study will help us find out how common delirium is in Parkinson’s, how well the methods we use to collect the data have worked and whether they could be used in a larger study.
REC name
Yorkshire & The Humber - Bradford Leeds Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
17/YH/0402
Date of REC Opinion
13 Dec 2017
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion