Heterogeneity of Outcome Late after Head Injury
Research type
Research Study
Full title
An investigation of heterogeneity of outcome late after head injury
IRAS ID
159844
Contact name
Thomas McMillan
Contact email
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
14/WS/1145,
Duration of Study in the UK
3 years, 0 months, 5 days
Research summary
There are two main purposes; the first is to characterise the very late outcome after head injury (HI). The second is to further understand the causes of changes in disability and increased risk of death late after injury. Professor McMillan and colleagues have reported a higher risk of death for up to 15 years following a hospital admission that is not clearly explained by age, gender, social deprivation or the severity of HI. Disability outcome can change for better or worse over time and is difficult to predict. There is some evidence that lifestyle may be associated with variability of outcome, although this is not well understood; for example a change in lifestyle as a result of the HI might result in other illnesses such as cardiovascular disease which in turn become associated with reduced daily function and risk of death. It may also be that the HI invokes biological processes that lead to the presence of physiological deregulation, chronic inflammation or abnormal ageing (given an association between HI and dementia). A model of disease process (the Allostatic Load Model) will be used, based upon the build-up of stress in the body over time. This model has been used to explain illness and death in other groups. It might explain the variability of outcome late after HI and has not been applied to outcome after HI. We will also consider whether abnormal ageing is advanced late after HI and will follow-up an earlier investigation of relationships between a genetic marker (APOE) and outcome after HI.
We will utilise Glasgow cohorts of people with HI that have been followed up in the past, to further describe outcome and change in outcome and to examine late outcomes 30 years(on average) after HI in relation to allostatic load, biological ageing and APOE genotype.
REC name
Scotland A REC
REC reference
17/SS/0075
Date of REC Opinion
22 Dec 2014
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion