Changing Agendas on Sleep, Treatment and Learning in Epilepsy

NCT ID: NCT04610879

Last Updated: 2020-11-02

Study Results

Results pending

The study team has not published outcome measurements, participant flow, or safety data for this trial yet. Check back later for updates.

Basic Information

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Recruitment Status

TERMINATED

Clinical Phase

PHASE4

Total Enrollment

5 participants

Study Classification

INTERVENTIONAL

Study Start Date

2019-08-02

Study Completion Date

2020-09-23

Brief Summary

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Rolandic epilepsy (RE) is the most common type of epilepsy. Children with RE have seizures and can often find that their learning, sleep, behaviour, self-esteem and mood are affected.

As part of standard NHS care, children diagnosed with RE may be treated with standard anti-epileptic medicines, like carbamazepine, or no medicine at all. The medicines used to treat epilepsy often slow down a child's thinking and learning. In the past, doctors believed this was an acceptable price to pay to reduce seizures. However, with RE, where the seizures usually stop in teenage years, investigators do not know if it is better to treat these children with medicines or not, especially if the medicines might have a negative effect on their learning.

A newer medicine called levetiracetam has also been found to work in children with RE and has shown less problems with thinking and learning in adults. However, it is still no known if this is also the case for children and it has not been proven which of the three options (carbamazepine, levetiracetam or no treatment) would be best for RE patients. The CASTLE study aims to find this out.

In addition, it has been found that seizures often happen when a child has had poor sleep and they often come at night or early in the morning. It has been shown that sleep can be improved through practice without the need of medicines. There are established guidelines to help toddlers go to sleep, but nothing available that helps young people with epilepsy and their parents improve their sleep quality. In the CASTLE study, a sleep training plan has been developed for children with epilepsy and the trial aims to find out whether following this sleep training plan results in less seizures than using no sleep training at all.

Detailed Description

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The trial is a phase IV randomised factorial design controlled trial comparing carbamazepine, levetiracetam or active monitoring combined with or without sleep behaviour intervention. A factorial trial design has been used as this approach enables the efficient simultaneous investigation of AED (carbamazepine; levetiracetam; no AED) and sleep behaviour intervention (vs standard care) by including all participants in both analyses. In a factorial trial it is also possible to consider both the separate effects of each intervention and the benefits of receiving both interventions together (for example levetiracetam and sleep intervention).

The CASTLE trial will take place in NHS out-patient paediatric epilepsy and general paediatric clinics in the United Kingdom (UK).

Once consent has been obtained from the appropriate adult, and assent from the child if appropriate, by the delegated member of the research team the eligibility assessments will be completed, full eligibility confirmed (confirmation must be by a medically qualified doctor) and baseline data will be collected prior to randomisation.

Randomisation will be performed via a web based tool accessed by research team at site. This system is generated centrally by the Clinical Trial Research Centre (CTRC) using a computer algorithm concealed from the investigators and research teams/trial management group. In order to balance the groups, minimisation for variables believed to influence disease outcome and end points will be built into the randomisation algorithm.

Participants will be randomised to treatment with carbamazepine, levetiracetam or active monitoring. Where randomised to drug treatment, the randomised treatment should ideally begin on the day of randomisation or within 14 days of randomisation at the latest. Randomised treatment will continue for a minimum of 12 months and a maximum of 48 months. All treatments will be procured, prescribed and issued as per routine NHS practice.

Clinical data capture will be in the form of paper copies of Case Report Forms (CRFs) that will be returned as an on-going process from each centre to the CTRC. Patient/parent reported data will be collected directly on paper at each outpatient visit with the exception of CANTAB, which will be collected on iPads at the centre.

All trial documents (except raw Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) from NHS digital that will only be retained for 1 year) will be retained for 25 years from the End of Trial. The PI at each investigational centre must make arrangements to store the essential trial documents, (as defined in Essential Documents for the Conduct of a Clinical Trial (ICH E6, Guideline for Good Clinical Practice)) including the ISF, until the CTRC informs the investigator that the documents are no longer to be retained

Conditions

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Rolandic Epilepsy

Study Design

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Allocation Method

RANDOMIZED

Intervention Model

FACTORIAL

The trial is a phase IV randomised factorial design controlled trial comparing carbamazepine, levetiracetam or active monitoring combined with or without sleep behaviour intervention. We have used a factorial trial design as this approach enables the efficient simultaneous investigation of anti-epileptic drug (AED) (carbamazepine; levetiracetam; no AED) and sleep behaviour intervention (vs standard care) by including all participants in both analyses. In a factorial trial it is also possible to consider both the separate effects of each intervention and the benefits of receiving both interventions together (for example levetiracetam and sleep intervention).
Primary Study Purpose

HEALTH_SERVICES_RESEARCH

Blinding Strategy

NONE

Study Groups

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Carbamazepine plus sleep intervention

Group Type ACTIVE_COMPARATOR

Carbamazepine

Intervention Type DRUG

Treatment will be procured, prescribed and issued as per routine NHS practice. Generics can be prescribed.

Parent based sleep (PBS) intervention

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

The PBS intervention is an e-learning package for parents/primary carers and children with epilepsy. The PBS intervention offers parents education about normal sleep, advice about sleep-promoting practices and targeted strategies parents can employ to help their children to ''learn'' an appropriate set of sleep behaviours/habits and/or to unlearn inappropriate sleep behaviours.

Carbamazepine plus standard care

Group Type ACTIVE_COMPARATOR

Carbamazepine

Intervention Type DRUG

Treatment will be procured, prescribed and issued as per routine NHS practice. Generics can be prescribed.

Levetiracetam plus sleep intervention

Group Type ACTIVE_COMPARATOR

Levetiracetam

Intervention Type DRUG

Treatment will be procured, prescribed and issued as per routine NHS practice. Generics can be prescribed.

Parent based sleep (PBS) intervention

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

The PBS intervention is an e-learning package for parents/primary carers and children with epilepsy. The PBS intervention offers parents education about normal sleep, advice about sleep-promoting practices and targeted strategies parents can employ to help their children to ''learn'' an appropriate set of sleep behaviours/habits and/or to unlearn inappropriate sleep behaviours.

Levetiracetam plus standard care

Group Type ACTIVE_COMPARATOR

Levetiracetam

Intervention Type DRUG

Treatment will be procured, prescribed and issued as per routine NHS practice. Generics can be prescribed.

No AED plus sleep intervention

Group Type ACTIVE_COMPARATOR

Parent based sleep (PBS) intervention

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

The PBS intervention is an e-learning package for parents/primary carers and children with epilepsy. The PBS intervention offers parents education about normal sleep, advice about sleep-promoting practices and targeted strategies parents can employ to help their children to ''learn'' an appropriate set of sleep behaviours/habits and/or to unlearn inappropriate sleep behaviours.

No AED plus standard care

Group Type NO_INTERVENTION

No interventions assigned to this group

Interventions

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Carbamazepine

Treatment will be procured, prescribed and issued as per routine NHS practice. Generics can be prescribed.

Intervention Type DRUG

Levetiracetam

Treatment will be procured, prescribed and issued as per routine NHS practice. Generics can be prescribed.

Intervention Type DRUG

Parent based sleep (PBS) intervention

The PBS intervention is an e-learning package for parents/primary carers and children with epilepsy. The PBS intervention offers parents education about normal sleep, advice about sleep-promoting practices and targeted strategies parents can employ to help their children to ''learn'' an appropriate set of sleep behaviours/habits and/or to unlearn inappropriate sleep behaviours.

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Other Intervention Names

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CASTLE Online Sleep Intervention (COSI)

Eligibility Criteria

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Inclusion Criteria

1. Children diagnosed with RE (see International League Against Epilepsy Diagnostic Manual at https://www.epilepsydiagnosis.org/syndrome/ects-overview.html)
2. EEG showing focal sharp waves with normal background (see International League Against Epilepsy Diagnostic Manual at https://www.epilepsydiagnosis.org/syndrome/ects-eeg.html)
3. Aged ≥5 years and \<13 years at the time of randomisation
4. Currently untreated with antiepileptic drugs
5. Written informed consent received from person with parental responsibility/legal representative.
6. Family have an email address and regular internet access (for online sleep intervention)
7. Parent and child are to have a good understanding of the English language

Exclusion Criteria

1. Known contraindication to any of the trial drugs
2. Previously treated for epilepsy with antiepileptic drugs
Minimum Eligible Age

5 Years

Maximum Eligible Age

12 Years

Eligible Sex

ALL

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Sponsors

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King's College Hospital NHS Trust

OTHER

Sponsor Role collaborator

University of Liverpool

OTHER

Sponsor Role collaborator

Bangor University

OTHER

Sponsor Role collaborator

Edge Hill University

OTHER

Sponsor Role collaborator

Oxford Brookes University

OTHER

Sponsor Role collaborator

King's College London

OTHER

Sponsor Role lead

Responsible Party

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Responsibility Role SPONSOR

Locations

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King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

London, , United Kingdom

Site Status

Tameside Hospital

Manchester, , United Kingdom

Site Status

Whiston Hospital

Whiston, , United Kingdom

Site Status

Countries

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United Kingdom

Other Identifiers

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2018-003893-29

Identifier Type: EUDRACT_NUMBER

Identifier Source: secondary_id

RP-PG-0615-20007

Identifier Type: OTHER_GRANT

Identifier Source: secondary_id

CASTLE

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id