The Reproductive Life Course Project V1.0
Research type
Research Study
Full title
The Reproductive Life Course Project: a quantitative analysis
IRAS ID
184846
Contact name
Umasuthan Srirangalingam
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
UCLH
Duration of Study in the UK
6 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
Disorders of Reproductive Development (DRD) are a large group of disorders predominately affecting the endocrine system. Most DRD's have a known genetic background such as Klinefelters Syndrome whilst other conditions such as Premature Ovarian Failure do not have a strong genetic basis.
Associated with many of these disorders are co-morbidities such as hypothyroidism, osteoporosis and fertility issues such as sub- fertility . In order to record the natural history of the DRD's this study aims to capture health events over the life course of individuals and identify predictive factors that contribute to adverse outcomes.
It is estimated approximately 600 individuals are under the care of UCLH's specialised clinics. All routine measurements from this clinic resource will be recorded to construct the first longitudinal data set of health events. Medical treatments received in earlier years will be compared to adult health outcomes. In addition we seek to compare health and psychosocial outcomes by a questionnaire and qualitative interview.
The research has 5 parts:
1) A case note review of historical clinical visits including obstetric notes.
2) Quality of life questionnaires.
3) An investigation into lost follow up appointments as recent evidence suggests that defaulting from clinic is more likely in those with an adverse socio-economic background.
4) Telephone interviews such as dietary interviews in select groups of individuals will be conducted. In order to obtain accurate data and validate aspects if the questionnaire.
5) Death certificate tracking in order to gain mortality data for this cohort in future years.
6) Consenting individuals will be invited to partake in giving a blood sample for DNA extraction and analysis. It is hoped using newer technology will be able to identify novel genetic associations.
REC name
London - Chelsea Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
16/LO/0682
Date of REC Opinion
17 May 2016
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion