Queen's University Belfast

Academic Institute

Mary-Elaine McCavert

E039

Cerebral palsy (CP) is a disorder of movement and posture caused by injury to the brain or problems with its development. CP is the leading cause of childhood physical disability, affecting 1 in 500 children worldwide (Novak et al., 2017) and 60 children each year in Northern Ireland (Perra et al., 2016). Sleep disturbances (SD) affect 23% of children with CP compared to 5% of children without CP (Newman et al., 2006) and impact a child’s life cognitively, emotionally and functionally. Sleep disorders are one of the top 10 childhood disability research priority areas according to the James Lind Alliance, yet few studies examining sleep medications in CP have been reported (Long, 2017). This study aims to address this by determining if people with CP are dispensed a greater number of sleep medications compared to the general population. The association between clinical factors related to CP such as level of motor impairment and sleep medication use will also be investigated. A cross-sectional data linkage study is proposed: data from the Northern Ireland Cerebral Palsy Register will be linked with the Enhanced Prescribing Database. The sample will include people with CP and the general population, born between 1981 and 2011, and dispensed medication between January 2016 and December 2017. Sleep medications dispensed for both groups i.e. those with CP and the general population, will be compared using χ2 tests.

The complex challenge of managing sleep in cerebral palsy (CP) is a relatively new area of research: the extent of use of pharmacological interventions to manage sleep disorders has not yet been established. Epidemiological studies are needed to understand how sleep disturbances are currently managed. Secondary use of health and social care data i.e. using the information on the type and amount of medication being prescribed for this population, will be a first step towards quantifying current management of this issue. This information can then be disseminated to appropriate managerial and frontline staff to be considered for potential future service provisions and will complement guidance provided in recent NICE guidelines (2017). Supports the development and/or delivery of public policy: Sleep disturbances in CP are one of the top 10 childhood disability priority research areas according to the James Lind Alliance. Previous studies have been limited to the use of nonpharmacological interventions or referenced sleep medication use in a mixed diagnostic group i.e. have not had a CP-only sample (Wasdell et al, 2008; Yin-Long et al., 2017). This study aims to address some of these gaps. Furthermore, data linkage between the Northern Ireland Cerebral Palsy Register (NICPR) and health and social care databases held by BSO-HBS could potentially provide valuable and cost-effective information that may reduce the need to design and implement further exploratory studies. For example, medication use might be considered a proxy for prevalence of sleep disturbances in the CP population.

11/11/2018

TRE