Characterising frailty using MRI

• Research type

  Research Study

• Full title

  Physiological phenotyping of frailty using magnetic resonance imaging

• IRAS ID

  278613

• Contact name

  John Gladman

• Contact email

  john.gladman@nottingham.ac.uk

• Sponsor organisation

  University of Nottingham

• Duration of Study in the UK

  1 years, 11 months, 27 days

• Research summary

  Ageing is associated with the development of various negative conditions, such as frailty. Defined as a decreased ability to combat negative stressors (e.g. falls and illness), frailty is highly prevalent in elderly adults and significantly increases an individual's risk of adverse events such as falls, illness and death. The underlying physical characteristics of frailty are currently incompletely understood, with many previous studies focusing on one tissue (e.g. the brain) in isolation. However, frailty is known to affect many tissues simultaneously, and to further our insight into the biological basis of frailty and how to treat it, we must determine how different organs are affected at the same time.
  The study will look at the physical characteristics of non-frail and frail elderly females (aged 65 years and over), who are attending geriatric clinics across the Nottingham University Hospital NHS Trust. We will aim to recruit 51 participants with this cohort broken down into non-frail (n=17), mildly frail/vulnerable (n=17) and frail (n=17) sub-groups. Participants will be allocated to these groups based on their Electronic Frailty Index, Clinical Frailty Scale and Fried frailty phenotype scores. All participants will undergo basic muscle function tests (grip strength, leg strength and muscle activity) and questionnaires on their first visit to University of Nottingham laboratories. They will then undergo one MRI scanning session, at the Sir Peter Mansfield Imaging Centre within the University, to gather information about the structure and function of their hearts, brains and muscles. MRI scan protocols will take approximately 45-60 mins. By providing a more comprehensive picture of the physical characteristics of frail individuals in comparison to their non-frail counterparts, we aim to increase our understanding of the frailty state, and to provide information which may help to develop future treatment interventions to combat the condition.
  

• REC name

  South West - Cornwall & Plymouth Research Ethics Committee

• REC reference

  20/SW/0121

• Date of REC Opinion

  2 Sep 2020

• REC opinion

  Favourable Opinion