A Remote Study Using Technology to Assess Outcomes in DMD

Every year, 100 boys are born in the UK with a rare muscle disease called Duchenne muscular dystrophy. These boys cannot make an important muscle protein called dystrophin. They become weaker as they get older and lose the ability to walk as teenagers. This is a life-limiting condition. There is no cure, but medicines are being made that could help these boys make dystrophin. These medicines are most likely to work best in toddlers, before their muscles become damaged.

There is no way of testing these medicines in children under four. In older children, it is possible to measure how well and how quickly a child can do movements like sitting up, standing up, and running. Unfortunately, these tests are not suitable for toddlers as they often struggle to listen and do what they are asked to do. Tiredness and mood can also affect their scores. Luckily, there is a new way of testing how well children move. They can wear special watch-like devices on their ankles that record information about their steps as they go about their normal lives. This is a good way of testing how well a child walks. It is now used to test medicines in children over four years old. Our aim is to test whether this device works well in children under four.

This study will invite 30 boys with DMD (and their parent/caregiver) and 30 boys without DMD aged 1-3 years old from across the country to join the study. There are no hospital visits. Children will receive the watch-like devices to wear for three blocks of 28-days over six months during their normal daily activities. At the start and end of the study, a physiotherapist will visit the homes of boys with DMD. They will check their movements using other tests. The investigators will find out 1) if young boys are happy to wear the device, 2) how it compares to other tests, and 3) if it can detect changes in walking ability.

This study could give us a way to test medicines in younger children. Wearable devices could cut down the travel and stress of tests for boys and their families. Children with learning or behavioural difficulties, and children living far from research centres could now also take part in studies of new medicines. This study could bring us a step closer to treating this life-limiting disease.