BIRDI study
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Brain Injury outcomes using Routine Data and Imaging analysis (BIRDI)
IRAS ID
353003
Contact name
Ellie Edlmann
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Plymouth
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
The demographics of traumatic brain injury (TBI) patients has changed significantly in the last few decades, with standing height falls in older people now the most common cause . As our population ages, recovery from TBI is as much about background multi-morbidity as it is about the injury itself with age, co-morbidities and frailty contributing significantly to outcome.
Clinicians make care decisions based on the likelihood of a good recovery from TBI, but current prognostication tools are weak. The most commonly used IMPACT tool uses data from historic patients who were younger and had high-impact injuries, with only subjective imaging markers. The aim of this study is to help support more accurate and relevant prognostication, particularly in older, frailer patients with TBI. This will be done by assessing a large volume of recent data (last 10 years of TBI referrals) and using AI to analyse aspects of medical history, functional baseline and automatated imaging analysis to help predict survival and length of stay in hospital. This will be closely integrated with PPI work on how best to understand and communicate this data.
A retrospective TBI patient cohort will be identified by searching the regional electronic neurosurgery referral database over the last 10 years.To help understand what pre-existing patient factors influence recovery from TBI we would like to collect data from the One Devon Dataset (ODD) which holds clinical data from GP records and community services. This data falls outside the routine care team and we are making an application to CAG to waiver the section 251 common law obligations of confidentiality. For practicality and to avoid selection bias we aim to collect this data through an opt-out model of consent.
REC name
East Midlands - Leicester South Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
25/EM/0120
Date of REC Opinion
30 May 2025
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion