Sleep disruption in children with Rolandic Epilepsy V1.0, 29/08/18
Research type
Research Study
Full title
The mechanisms and impact of sleep disruption in children with Rolandic Epilepsy
IRAS ID
247899
Contact name
Andrew Bagshaw
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Birmingham
Duration of Study in the UK
3 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
Rolandic epilepsy (RE) is one of the most common childhood epilepsies and is considered a benign form of epilepsy as seizures remit in adolescence. However, there’s evidence to suggest that RE is associated with several negative impacts including poorer quality of sleep, increased likelihood of depression and anxiety, and adverse impacts on academic performance.
We hypothesise that disturbances of sleep caused by epileptic activity and learned sleep-related behaviours underlie many of the adverse impacts of RE on patients and families. We aim to investigate how sleep is affected by and affects the daytime function, behaviour and quality of life of patients with RE compared to patients without RE. Furthermore, we would like to understand the specific relationship between electrophysiological markers of RE, sleep disturbances and clinical data in order to help establish the sleep microstructural signature of RE.
Participants (4-16 years) will be recruited via two routes from the Neurophysiology departments of Birmingham Women's and Children's NHS Foundation Trust/ Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust and Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust.
Retrospective route: We will access the current NHS participant database to search for patients who have undergone a video-encephalography (VEEG) nap study in the past 12-18 months. We will seek consent from families who did and did not receive a diagnosis of RE (the latter serving as controls) to access their clinical data.
Prospective route: We aim to recruit participants who are undergoing diagnostic tests for suspected RE or other disorders which require a VEEG nap study. Parents will be required to complete questionnaires prior to and during their scheduled appointment. Following this, their child will be required to undergo actigraphy for two weeks alongside completing a sleep diary. If families receive a diagnosis of RE, they will be contacted to seek consent to be interviewed.
REC name
North West - Preston Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
19/NW/0337
Date of REC Opinion
5 Jul 2019
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion