Mental fatigability and sleep quality in Huntington's Disease
Research type
Research Study
Full title
An investigation of mental fatigability as a symptom of Huntington's Disease, and the effect of sleep quality on this relationship
IRAS ID
257173
Contact name
Hugh Rickards
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 5 months, 30 days
Research summary
A study comparing mental fatigability (reduced capacity for cognitive tasks over time) of healthy individuals, premanifest Huntington's Disease (HD) patients, and manifest HD patients, while also assessing the effect of subjective sleep quality (one’s personal assessment of how well they sleep) on mental fatigability and its interaction with HD.
HD impacts patients’ quality of life (standard of health, comfort and happiness experienced), so research into early symptoms is important, allowing earlier recognition and intervention. As HD patients experience cognitive impairment and dementia, mental fatigability could be an undiscovered early symptom. Mental fatigability could contribute to patients’ reduced quality of life, like their ability to work and remain alert, and to reduced independence, like organising their finances. This research will investigate whether mental fatigability is a symptom of HD.
Furthermore, sleep problems are common in HD and improving sleep quality could improve patients’ quality of life. Therefore, investigating how sleep quality relates to HD symptoms is important to determining how improving sleep might be a useful intervention. In this study, subjective sleep quality is investigated to provide further evidence of a relationship between sleep quality and HD symptoms, in this case mental fatigability.
Healthy individuals and premanifest or manifest HD patients enrolled in the Enroll-HD study are eligible for this research, conducted at Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust. Each participant will complete two simple tasks using a Quantitative-Motor machine, a device that uses touch sensors to measure HD symptoms. On one task, they must tap a sensor in time with a metronome and then sustain the rhythm. On the other task, they must apply varying pressure to a sensor to match the height of a line on a computer screen. They will also complete a questionnaire about their subjective sleep quality. The study will last an hour.REC name
East Midlands - Leicester South Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
19/EM/0225
Date of REC Opinion
9 Aug 2019
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion