Sleep in Dementia Feasibility Study
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Assessing sleep in dementia: a scoping study
IRAS ID
264843
Contact name
Derk-Jan Dijk
Contact email
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 0 months, 0 days
Research summary
Dementia is a leading cause of death in the UK with an increasing prevalence. Characterised by a gradual loss of brain function, dementia impacts on a number of behaviours including sleep.
Sleep problems in dementia profoundly affect the wellbeing of patients and their caregivers, and poor sleep may drive brain injury and tissue loss. Sleep is among the most promising targets for treatment in dementia and is potentially relevant to a number of major dementias. However, to be able to develop treatments we need to understand how best to assess sleep disturbance and measure its impact reliably within patients with dementia.
In this project, we will evaluate the feasibility of sleep assessment protocols including overnight sleep recordings, actigraphy (assessing activity levels) and caregiver questionnaires for patients representing two major dementias – Alzheimer’s disease and frontotemporal dementia. In addition, we will obtain a first indication of the utility of sleep measures in signalling diagnosis and daily-life impact, by comparing patients with healthy older people.
This project will provide essential information for designing a future comprehensive study of sleep in dementia, guiding selection of diagnostic groups and assessment tools and estimating power and effect sizes. In future work, such information will direct the development of novel sleep biomarkers and therapeutic interventions in people with dementia.
A total of 60 participants with their study partners are planned to be enrolled in this study, funded by Alzheimer’s Research UK. Participant involvement will be for 18 days.
REC name
London - Queen Square Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
19/LO/1247
Date of REC Opinion
17 Sep 2019
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion