SHAPED (v1.0)
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Study of HAllucinations in Parkinson's disease, Eye disease and Dementia (SHAPED)
IRAS ID
144303
Contact name
Robert Howard
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London
Research summary
An estimated 2 million people in the UK repeatedly see things that are not actually there – termed visual hallucinations. Visual hallucinations are associated with many clinical conditions of which Parkinson's disease, eye disease and ‘the dementias’ (including Alzheimer’s disease), are the most important in terms of the number of affected individuals. The hallucinations cause significant distress for patients and their carers and have wider implications for the NHS, such as triggering the move to a care home from living at home. People with visual hallucinations are seeking help and support from voluntary organisations in increasing numbers, yet at present there are no NHS services for such patients, and we do not know whether those that need help are being identified by current service provision. This multi-site study sets out to address the gaps in our understanding of the nature and scale of the problem of visual hallucinations in two integrated workstreams (a follow-up study and qualitative survey).
At the end of the SHAPED trial, a set of guidelines on how to manage visual hallucinations will be released. The guidelines will be based on new evidence collected within the SHAPED trial in relation to: i) how many people have visual hallucinations across the Parkinson's disease, eye disease, dementia and co-morbid (dementia + eye disease) groups; ii) what happens to visual hallucinations over time across the different clinical groups; iii) how do visual hallucinations impact on quality of life and their economic costs across the clinical groups; and iv) what types of service provision are needed to manage visual hallucinations across the clinical groups.
REC name
London - Camden & Kings Cross Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
14/LO/1517
Date of REC Opinion
4 Sep 2014
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion