pGALSplus
Research type
Research Study
Full title
A study to develop and pilot ‘pGALSplus’ to facilitate identification and assessment of children with serious musculoskeletal disease
IRAS ID
246467
Contact name
Sharmila Jandial
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
NUTH
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 5 months, 31 days
Research summary
Children and young people can develop a range of muscle and joint (musculoskeletal) problems. It is important that these problems are diagnosed early so that people can get access to the right specialist care. We want to develop an assessment to help those health professionals who often first see children and young people with musculoskeletal problems.
To our knowledge there is no agreement as to what assessments are best to help:
• health professionals identify signs of serious musculoskeletal disease
• them to refer patients to right specialty
• them measure the musculoskeletal changes observed.We have chosen to focus on the assessment of three potentially serious musculoskeletal conditions that children and young people can develop – arthritis (Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis), inherited diseases of the muscles (Muscular Dystrophies) and inherited metabolic diseases (Mucopolysaccharidoses), and the assessment of a condition which affects children and young people’s co-ordination (Developmental Co-ordination Disorder).
We have already developed a simple, quick musculoskeletal clinical assessment –paediatric Gait, Arms, Legs and Spine (pGALS) - to help non-specialist health professionals understand the difference between normal and abnormal joints. pGALS has been shown to be effective, practical and acceptable (to children and young people and parents/guardians) in a range of settings. However, pGALS only identifies whether a joint or movement is normal or not. We need to develop additional elements to help identify signs of serious musculoskeletal disease and co-ordination problems. We want to understand whether we can adapt pGALS, to include elements of other assessments, to develop a new assessment that we will call ‘pGALSplus’
We will review the assessments currently in use and undertake work with health professionals to initially develop pGALSplus. We will then test pGALSplus with children and young people with a range of musculoskeletal problems as well as children without these problems, to see whether it is practical and acceptable. Working with health professionals, we will produce a revised version, and develop a manual and toolkit.
REC name
South Central - Hampshire A Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
18/SC/0659
Date of REC Opinion
4 Jan 2019
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion