STARTRIGHT Pilot study
Research type
Research Study
Full title
The StartRIGHT Study: Getting the right diagnosis and the right treatment from the start, in young adult diabetes – a pilot study
IRAS ID
163349
Contact name
Gardner Chris
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
RD&E NHS FT
Duration of Study in the UK
4 years, 0 months, 0 days
Research summary
There are three main forms of diabetes: Type 1 diabetes, Type 2 diabetes and genetic diabetes. The treatment for each is very different because they have different causes. People with Type 1 diabetes stop making their own insulin, so need insulin injections instead. People with Type 2 diabetes can keep making their own insulin but it may not work as well as it should, so they need to watch what they eat, and may also need tablets or eventually insulin injections. Genetic forms of diabetes have specific treatments according to the subgroup.
It is not easy for doctors to be able to say for definite what kind of diabetes a person has, particularly in young adults, where the distinction between the types is less clear. Because of this, sometimes (in about 10% of cases) people are given the wrong diagnosis. This has a huge impact, as the wrong treatment from the start means poor blood sugar control, increased health problems and poorer quality of life.
We think we can improve this situation. We have developed a tool called an “Optimised Diagnostic Strategy” (ODS). This combines a person’s clinical features (e.g. age and weight), with blood tests looking for changes in their body’s immune (defence) system and specific changes in their genetic code. This could accurately diagnose what kind of diabetes that person has. We now need to test this ODS to see if it’s better at getting the right diagnosis and treatment from the start compared with current routine clinical practice. This kind of project is called a Randomised Controlled Trial (RCT) and would involve patients from GP surgeries all over the UK. It would be expensive as it involves a lot of work by many people to get it set up and to keep it running so we need to do this “pilot” first to see if the bigger study would be possible and practical to do.REC name
South West - Cornwall & Plymouth Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
14/SW/1152
Date of REC Opinion
3 Feb 2015
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion