Home-monitoring Vision of Children with OPGs: A Feasibility Study
Research type
Research Study
Full title
A dual-cohort feasibility study to investigate the usage of a child-friendly home-monitoring tool for vision assessment for treatment planning in optic pathway gliomas.
IRAS ID
290045
Contact name
Samantha Gordon
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Barts Health NHS Trust
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 12 months, 0 days
Research summary
This project aims to explore the validity and feasibility of using a smartphone game for the home-monitoring of visual function for patients with optic pathway gliomas (OPGs). OPGs are a type of brain tumour which are usually benign, slow growing, and primarily found in young children. Treatment options for this condition have a risk of harm to the patient and their need is predominantly determined by changes in the patient’s visual acuity (VA) which is measured in specialised clinics every 3-6 months. VA is challenging to measure accurately and consistently in young children and, in addition, there is very little insight into how a patient's visual acuity has changed throughout the inter-visit period. Monitoring the patients’ vision at home with a phone app could provide an increase in reliable information to help solve these issues and make more informed treatment prescription decisions. Before a conclusive assessment of the app's use can be made, the app in question must be validated and the feasibility of using it for home-monitoring should be explored in a feasibility study. This feasibility study is what is detailed in this application.
The participants will be asked to play the game (approx. 15 minutes) twice a week for the time between two scheduled clinic visits (at least 90 days) with a total study duration of 12 months. They will also have their visual function measured twice using traditional methods in eye clinics or in school. Eligible participants will be 3-8 years old (inclusive), have an OPG or healthy vision and will be able to play the game at home. The study will be primarily conducted at home as well as either hospital eye clinics or the participants' school (for healthy vision group) and is sponsored by Barts Health NHS Trust.
REC name
London - Hampstead Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
22/LO/0611
Date of REC Opinion
20 Sep 2022
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion