Quality of life and home parenteral nutrition version 1
Research type
Research Study
Full title
A longitudinal study of factors that impact on the quality of life of intestinal failure patients treated with home parenteral nutrition
IRAS ID
297366
Contact name
C Kirk
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
The Newcastle Joint Research Office
Duration of Study in the UK
3 years, 0 months, 0 days
Research summary
Parenteral nutrition refers to the administration of nutrients directly into a persons blood. It is a life-saving treatment for people with intestinal failure. Intestinal failure occurs when a person’s gut (intestine) is unable to process food and drink. Patients are taught how to administer this at home. In England, there are over 2500 people treated with home parenteral nutrition (HPN). HPN is time-consuming and invasive. Patients struggle with ongoing symptoms of their underlying condition, and live with multiple health problems. This inevitably has severe consequences for their quality of life (QoL). There are also life-threatening consequences of HPN. The most serious is if the liver begins to fail requiring a liver and gut transplant.
Very little is known about the true causes of poor QoL, how to treat them, or the extent to which liver disease impacts QoL. Contributory factors may include the ingredients of parenteral nutrition which are often variable due to a lack of clinical guidelines.
This research aims to understand how HPN impacts on the QoL of patients, and the contribution played by liver disease.
Methods:
Investigate the QoL of patients treated with HPN using validated questionnaires at study commencement and 12 months later. Detailed analysis will be performed to understand which factors affect scores, and the potential pathways between them. For example, length of time on treatment, dietary intake, liver function.REC name
South Central - Hampshire B Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
21/SC/0316
Date of REC Opinion
25 Oct 2021
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion