I Am Brain Aware

• Research type

  Research Study

• Full title

  Individualised Assessment and Management of mild traumatic Brain Injury: Widening Access to Resources for Recovery (I Am Brain Aware)

• IRAS ID

  325319

• Contact name

  Virginia Newcombe

• Contact email

  vfjn2@cam.ac.uk

• Sponsor organisation

  Cambridge University Hospitals Foundation Trust

• Duration of Study in the UK

  3 years, 0 months, 31 days

• Research summary

  In the UK >1 million people attend emergency departments every year with a traumatic brain injury (TBI). The majority (~90%) are mild (mTBI). However, mTBI is often NOT mild; more than 30% of patients will experience serious problems that can last months to years including severe tiredness, poor memory, headaches, and mental health issues. Collectively these symptoms are called post-concussion symptoms (PCS).

  Currently the majority of patients are sent home with advice and no planned follow-up; and there is an expectation that patients with ongoing problems will seek help themselves. However, lack of information and knowledge on where to go for help means patients often feel lost. This is an unmet healthcare need affecting millions of individuals worldwide each year.

  These multi-stage project aims to address this problem by:

  1) Understanding patient, carer and medical professionals experiences of mTBI through interviews and focus groups;
  2) Working with patients and experts to establish a set of the best questionnaires to measure experiences in mTBI;
  3) Working with patients and experts to establish current best practice for the early management of mild TBI;
  4) Working with patients and stakeholders to help design what needs to be included as well as test elements developed of the proposed App for usability to improve its design.
  5) Ensure that the outcome measures which will be used in the future app are valid to use in an electronic format.

  While all elements of the study proposed here will inform the eventual app design the app itself will be formally tested in a separate planned study once developed.

• REC name

  North of Scotland Research Ethics Committee 1

• REC reference

  23/NS/0141

• Date of REC Opinion

  4 Dec 2023

• REC opinion

  Favourable Opinion