Learning more about fatigue in Crohn's and Colitis in children and young people.

What the researchers will look at?

People living with Crohn’s or Colitis can feel really tired, even when their condition is being well controlled. About half of people with Crohn’s or Colitis experience these feelings of exhaustion or lack of energy, known as fatigue. There is very little research on how fatigue affects children and young people with these conditions.

This study wants to learn more about how fatigue impacts the lives of children and young people living with Crohn’s or Colitis and their families. To do this, researchers will talk to children and young people aged between 8 and 18 years old, as well as their families. The researchers will use questionnaires, as well as conducting group discussions and interviews to gain a deeper understanding about fatigue to find out:

• How fatigue affects their physical and mental health, sleep, and social life.
• How children, young people and their families manage fatigue.
• If they get support for fatigue from their healthcare teams.
  

Researchers will look for any clear patterns in what children, young people and their families share about their experiences of fatigue. They'll also talk to children and young people who are not living with Crohn’s or Colitis and their families. They will then compare their responses to see if there are differences in how fatigue is experienced.

By understanding more about fatigue as it is experienced by children and young people living with Crohn’s and Colitis, researchers hope to develop new ideas on what causes it and how it can be managed.

What the researchers think this could this mean for people with Crohn’s and Colitis?

Researchers want to better understand fatigue as it is experienced by children and young people with Crohn’s or Colitis. By doing this, they hope to:

• Highlight to medical professionals and healthcare teams how much fatigue affects children and young people.
• Help children, young people and their families have better conversations about fatigue with their IBD team.
• Find new ways to manage fatigue in children and young people with Crohn’s or Colitis.
• Drive more research to discover the causes of fatigue and develop future treatments.

Who is leading this research: Dr Paul Henderson, University of Edinburgh
Our funding: £149,807.35
Duration: 24 months 
Official title of application: PINTPOINT-Impact: A deeper understanding of fatigue in paediatric IBD.