Sarcopenia network and registry pilot (SarcNet)
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Developing a UK Sarcopenia Network and Registry - pilot phase
IRAS ID
246875
Contact name
Miles Witham
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Newcastle University
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 11 months, 31 days
Research summary
Sarcopenia (the loss of muscle size and strength that occurs as we age) is a major health problem. Research in this area is difficult because the diagnosis is not made or recorded on electronic records, and few places in the UK are used to recruiting people with sarcopenia into studies. Thus finding people with sarcopenia to participate in studies is difficult.
To address this issue, we will create a registry of older people with reduced physical function, measuring their muscle size, strength and asking a series of questionnaires about function and how muscle weakness affects their quality of life. We will work with six recruitment sites across the UK to recruit a total of 300 older people. We will also ask participants for their permission to approach them for future clinical trials that might be suitable for them to participate in.
The results will be used to find out how good this recruitment plan is at recruiting participants, how many have muscle weakness and low muscle size. We will also use the information to test measures of function and quality of life for use in future trials. If successful, this pilot project would lead to a larger UK-wide project to train staff at many sites and to recruit larger numbers of older people. The information we collect would then allow clinical trials for treatments of sarcopenia to be performed in future.
REC name
North East - Tyne & Wear South Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
18/NE/0314
Date of REC Opinion
9 Oct 2018
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion