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Primary Care Research Centre

RELOAD

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Participant Information Sheet

Privacy statement

Staff

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Home

Participant Information Sheet

Privacy statement

Staff

Contact

Home

Participant Information Sheet

Privacy statement

Staff

Contact

Welcome to the RELOAD Study website.

RELOAD: REspiratory disease progression through LOngitudinal Audio Data machine learning.

What is the RELOAD study about?
You are being invited to participate in the RELOAD study. This study will explore whether sounds, such as breathing, speaking and coughing, can be used to predict whether someone with a cough caused by infection is likely to get better or worse. The study is being run by researchers at the University of Southampton and the University of Cambridge, and is sponsored by the University of Southampton.

Why is this study important?
Respiratory Tract Infections (RTIs) (coughs and colds) are the most common cause of illness and the most common reason patients visit a GP. Around half of all antibiotic prescriptions are for RTIs. The illness they cause is usually mild, but in some cases can become severe. Most people with an RTI get better without needing treatment. However, we need to notice quickly when people are getting seriously ill. If we do not, the effect on them and on healthcare services could be serious.

Using an app to analyse breathing and speech sounds automatically could be a game-changer because it could:

•    reassure many patients that they do not need to see a doctor.
•    reduce prescriptions for antibiotics by identifying patients who will get better on their own.
•    reduce hospital admissions or cases of severe illness by recognising patients who are at higher risk.

All these effects would reduce the pressure on the NHS.

We know that some signs, such as breathing faster, can tell us whether a RTI is getting worse, and we know we can measure these signs by recording the sound of the breath. We know that RTIs also affect breathing pattern, the sound of speech and trying to breathe when speaking. We want to see if these other breathing sounds and patterns are also likely to change with RTI severity.

Who are we looking for:
We are looking for adults (aged 18 or over) to take part in the study.

We need both people who do not currently have a cough, and those who do.

To take part, you need to have a mobile device that is capable of recording sounds and is able to run our app (called Breath Tracker), and to be willing to provide us with some information about you and your health, and some recordings of breathing, speaking and coughing.

If you have a cough and want to take part in our study please try to record your breath sounds every day. We are looking at how breath sounds change over time in a person who has a RTI. Reporting your symptoms every day will improve the quality of this study. But if you do miss a day, simply report your symptoms as soon as you can using the app.

More information:
To find out more about the study, please download our participant information sheet, which will give you the information you need to decide whether you would like to take part or not.

How do I take part?

The RELOAD study app is called ‘Breath Tracker’. If you would like  
to take part, please click on the App Store or Google Play links below.

Apple App Store
Google Play Store

 

 

You can also access the participant information sheet through the app, and if you decide to take part it will ask you to complete a consent form. Once you have completed the consent form the app will guide you through completing the questionnaires and sound recordings for the study.

Funder:
UK Research and Innovation (UKRI)

Duration:
02/10/2023 to 31/3/2025

GDPR Statement:

The University of Southampton is the sponsor for this study based in the United Kingdom. We will be using information from you in order to undertake this study and will act as the data controller for this study. This means that we are responsible for looking after your information and using it properly. The University of Southampton will keep identifiable information about you for 10 years after the study has finished.

Your rights to access, change or move your information are limited, as we need to manage your information in specific ways in order for the research to be reliable and accurate. If you withdraw from the study, we will keep the information about you that we have already obtained. To safeguard your rights, we will use the minimum personally-identifiable information possible.

You can find out more about how we use your information: https://www.southampton.ac.uk/~assets/doc/legal-services/Research%20and%20Integrity%20Privacy%20Notice/Privacy%20Notice%20for%20Research%20Participants.pdf

 

Study team

Professor Cecilia Mascolo

Professor Anna Barney

Professor Nick Francis

Professor Pietro Cicuta

Mrs Kate Martinson

Mr Georgios Rizos

Ms Yuwei Zhang

Ms Joanne Lloyd

Ms Jackie Seely

Trial Manager: Jackie Seely

Email: RELOAD_RA@soton.ac.uk

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