BISCUIT
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Brain Injury, Sleep and Cognition – Untangling to the long-term impact of childhood TBI
IRAS ID
346901
Contact name
Bosiljka Milosavljevic
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Queen Mary University of London
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 5 months, 30 days
Research summary
Head injuries are very common during childhood, particularly in babies and
teenagers. Children often make a full recovery from a head injury but sometimes
behaviour problems and learning issues may follow. Understanding when and why
that happens is important. Even more critical is the need to explore if there is
anything we can change in the child’s everyday routine to minimize such problems.
Past studies have shown that sleep may be disrupted following a head injury. Given
the established link between sleep and school performance as well as conduct
problems, we want to study sleep quality in this population and comprehend how
sleep problems contribute to thinking skills and behaviour. We also want to find out
which sleep interventions families would be most happy to use. We will be collecting
data from children aged one month to 16 years who were seen at the Royal London
Hospital and classified as having a significant head injury. We will be using activity
tracking devices and parental questionnaires to evaluate sleep. In addition, we will
assess general intelligence and behaviour using measurement tools that have been
used extensively with children. Finally, we will develop a questionnaire asking
questions related to the type of sleep interventions families would be willing to
implement. A subset of families will also take part in an online focus group to explore
their opinions in more depth. We believe that the current study will give us important
insights into the relationship between sleep and functioning. Most past studies
haven’t used objective measures and there are very few studies investigating sleep in
babies following a head injury. What’s more, our study will give parents and older
children the chance to provide valuable input for the design of a sleep intervention.REC name
London - Riverside Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
25/LO/0557
Date of REC Opinion
16 Sep 2025
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion