DIAMOND-Lewy Work Package 1 Review (WP1R)

• Research type

  Research Study

• Full title

  Improving the Diagnosis and Management of neurodegenerative dementia of the Lewy body type in the NHS (DIAMOND-Lewy). Work package 1 Review (WP1R) - Reviewing the impact of the assessment toolkit on diagnosis of Lewy body dementia.

• IRAS ID

  232363

• Contact name

  John O'Brien

• Contact email

  john.obrien@medschl.cam.ac.uk

• Sponsor organisation

  Northumberland Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust

• Duration of Study in the UK

  1 years, 6 months, 0 days

• Research summary

  This programme grant is funded by The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) and focuses on Lewy Body dementia (LBD) which includes two related disorders: Dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) and Parkinson’s Disease
  Dementia (PDD). The signs and symptoms of LBD are often difficult to detect and currently only about one in three cases are diagnosed; as a result many patients with LBD receive sub optimal management.
  The programme has two main aims:
  (i) To improve the recognition and prompt diagnosis of LBD through the introduction of a simple assessment tool.
  (ii) To improve patient management and outcomes through the development and introduction of an evidence based toolkit for clinicians.

  The programme has involved memory/dementia assessment services and movement disorder services from NHS Trusts in North East England and East Anglia. It consists of five interlinked work packages (WP) which have:
  WP1: Examined the proportion of LBD cases currently diagnosed and compare the management pathways of LBD and non LBD patients.
  WP2: Explored and understood barriers and facilitators to improving the diagnosis and management of LBD in routine NHS practice.
  WP3: Developed an evidence based practical management toolkit to guide clinicians in the management of LBD. This involved a systematic review and input from expert clinical and PPI panels.
  WP4: Brought together methods for assessing the core LBD symptoms into a simple, quick (<6 minutes) assessment tool and piloted the assessment tool and management toolkit to ensure that they could be integrated into current NHS services.
  WP5: Implemented the assessment tool and conducted a pilot cluster randomised trial of the management toolkit, to assess its impact on patient management and health outcomes.

  This application is concerned with WP1R only and will reexamine the proportion of LBD cases currently diagnosed in order to compare with WP1A and B findings following the implementation of the assessment toolkit.

• REC name

  North East - Newcastle & North Tyneside 1 Research Ethics Committee

• REC reference

  17/NE/0362

• Date of REC Opinion

  28 Nov 2017

• REC opinion

  Favourable Opinion