ANZCTR search results

Current evidence suggests that the treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in minors should comprise a multimodal treatment approach, including stimulants medications. However, many children with ADHD also suffer from co-morbid tics, which can create significant impairments. Moreover, stimulants (which are frequently prescribed to children with ADHD) can make tics even worse. In this project we will use EEG-based neurofeedback as a non- pharmacological approach to treat ADHD and tic symptoms in children, with the aim of avoiding stimulant medication.

Non communicable diseases (NCDs) are the leading cause of illness, disability and death in Australia, accounting for 90% of all deaths in 2011. NCDs have an intricate association with modifiable risk factors such as physical inactivity, poor nutrition, and smoking. Population approaches to NCD management are based around the modification of the associated risk factors- uptake of regular physical activity, smoking cessation and dietary modification. This research aims to evaluate the effectiveness of a blend of MI/CBT, which are interventions to increase motivation and confidence around behaviour change. This office based intervention may educate, support and motivate participants through a range of strategies for health related behaviour change. This intervention will specifically will target adults aged 18 to 69 years from an elective non-admitted hospital clinic in regional Australia. Participants will be required to be insufficiently active (< 150 minutes of moderate physical activity per week), and be fluent in conversational English. It is hypothesised that by the end of the intervention, compared to the minimal intervention group, the participants in the intervention group will show significant improvements in the primary endpoint physical activity, and in the secondary endpoints: physical activity self-efficacy, quality of life, type 2 diabetes mellitus risk, and anthropometric values. This office delivered telephone support model may be a cost-effective and relatively straightforward way of promoting health behaviour change. The project aims to test the effectiveness of this in a well-designed and rigorously conducted trial.

Alcohol-removed wines are relevant to reducing the risk of DNA damage and other alcohol-related pathologies in (i) the foetus in utero and the mother/father for those couples who choose to continue drinking wine before and during pregnancy, (ii) those who habitually exceed current alcohol drinking recommendations and are trying to maintain their social habits, (iii) those who are genetically susceptible because they can not metabolise alcohol properly and/or detoxify its carcinogenic metabolite acetaldehyde (i.e. ALDH2 defect commonly found in Asians), (iv) those who want the health benefit of increased wine phenolic intake without the detrimental effect of alcohol in wine or the high sugar in grape juice (e.g. diabetics) and (vi) those who want to drink wine phenolics because of the emerging evidence of their protective effects against neurodegeneration and their role as potential caloric restriction mimetics. The direct benefits of de-alcoholised wine may be particularly relevant to obese individuals because they exhibit higher levels of DNA damage and oxidative stress as well as being at a higher risk of developing diseases associated with increased DNA damage such as cancer, cardiovascular disease and neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease. The main aim of the project is to test whether daily consumption of either 187.5 ml of Eden Vale de-alcoholised Shiraz for 8 weeks followed by consumption of 375.0ml for another 8 weeks prevents age-associated genome pathology and metabolic stress in overweight/obese men and women who are at least 50 years old. The hypothesis we are testing is “Increased consumption of de-alcoholised red wine prevents DNA damage and other biomarkers of ageing in overweight/obese older men and women”.

The objective of this study is to explore the efficacy of a targeted exercise intervention as a mental health care service for prostate cancer patients. In particular the aim is to a)examine whether a tailored exercise intervention can help manage psychological distress in men with prostate cancer and b) evaluate the cost-effectiveness of the program to promote mental health in men with prostate cancer. Who is it for? You may be eligible to join if you are a male aged 18 years and over and experiencing psychological distress after a prostate cancer diagnosis. Trial details: Participants in this study will be randomly (by chance) divided into two groups. Participants in one group (i.e. Exercise intervention group) will attend a 3 month physical exercise intervention program that involves resistance (i.e. lifting weights) and aerobic exercise (e.g. walking, jogging, cycling) undertaken 3 times per week at various community based fitness centres/gyms throughout Melbourne . Exercise sessions will take approximately 60 minutes and will be conducted in small groups under the supervision of an accredited exercise physiologist. Participants in the second group (i.e. Usual care) will maintain usual care for 6 months and will then be offered the exercise intervention. All participants will be required to complete a number of questionnaires at baseline, 3 months and 6 months, in order to assess mental health and quality of life. They will also undergo fitness tests and dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) scans to evaluate changes in physical fitness levels and body composition.

There is significant interest from researchers, general practitioners and the public re: the administration of Vitamin B12 supplements for health maintenance or disease treatments. The aim of this study is to evaluate the absorption characteristics of a selected group of Australian and U.S MARKETED OVER THE COUNTER (OTC) VITAMIN B12 PRODUCTS. As such this study purposes to evaluate the absorption characteristics of these products.

No studies have examined the potential for cognitive or cognitive-motor training to prevent falls in older people, despite good evidence of fall-related cognitive and physical improvements following both intervention types. We have developed and validated a home-based computerised training intervention that can be delivered identically, either while seated (cognitive) or while standing and undertaking balance exercises (cognitive+motor). This unique design will allow us to assess whether cognitive and cognitive+motor training can prevent falls, as well as the neural, physiological, physical and neuropsychological mechanisms behind the intervention effects. We will conduct a randomised controlled trial of 750 older people, to determine the effects of cognitive and cognitive+motor training, compared with a no-intervention control group, in preventing falls and related physical, cognitive and neurological measures in older people. We hypothesise both interventions will significantly prevent falls and fall-related measures of physical and cognitive functions. Any differential effects of the interventions will provide valuable insights into the intervention components required for efficacious fall prevention, and those required for neural, neuropsychological and physical benefits.

The O2Vent T is a mouth splint with an enclosed airway that allows airflow through the device. Like all mouth splints for the treatment of Obstructive Sleep Apnoea (OSA), the lower jaw is brought forward to bring the tongue forward and stabilize the upper airway. However, unlike other devices, patients are able to breathe through the device airway with the jaw position stabilized. At present, there is very little data on the complex relationship between nasal obstruction, route of breathing and the collapsibility of the upper airway during sleep and the impact of the device airway is unknown. The purpose of this study is to investigate the mechanism of action of an oral appliance with a built in airway in the treatment of obstructive sleep apnoea. The objectives are to: 1. Determine the relationship between nasal obstruction, Apnoea-Hypopnea Index (AHI) and breathing route in patients with OSA. 2. Evaluate the effect of mandibular advancement on the breathing route and its relationship to the AHI. 3. Evaluate the impact of the oral appliance airway on OSA treatment

Our proposal is to take brief interventions, proven to have a significant impact on young people's drinking, and apply them in the mobile realm during actual drinking occasions. The intervention will consist of hourly mobile assessment and feedback. While on a night out, participants will receive hourly reminders to complete a very brief questionnaire through an online survey accessed via the SMS message. The questionnaire will involve hourly reports of their alcohol consumption and spending, where they are, and their mood. They will then receive an individually tailored feedback message via SMS in response to these data, which aims to stop or slow down their drinking, or avoid harmful consequences of drinking. The intervention will be delivered on 6 drinking occasions (nights) over a 12 week period. This study aims to determine the impact of a tailored brief intervention delivered by mobile phone on young people's high-risk alcohol consumption. We will use a randomised controlled trial design to generate high quality evidence of the impact of this intervention on single occasion risky drinking among young people. This will be the world's first randomised controlled trial of a mobile delivered brief intervention to reduce alcohol consumption.

As there are no effective cures for dementia, it is essential that efforts focus on screening for potentially ‘modifiable risk factors’ of cognitive decline as it has been estimated that reductions in these treatable conditions could result in 1.1 million fewer cases of Alzheimer’s disease worldwide. These ‘modifiable risk factors’ include depression, diabetes, having high blood pressure, being overweight, being a smoker, being physically inactive, and having low education which in turn relates to not keeping the brain active enough. The internet is a powerful means by which to prevent health-related problems and to promote general health and wellbeing on a large-scale, referred to as ‘e-health’. E-health can be used to screen ‘at risk’ individuals, offer self-help through online interventions or deliver proactive and guided interventions facilitated by expert clinicians. The major advantage of e-health over standard models of care is the ability to recruit and deliver interventions on a large-scale, thereby being able to more effectively address major public health issues. Our team has developed a large scale “Healthy Brain Ageing” (HBA) e-health platform designed specifically for older adults who are ‘at risk’ of cognitive decline and dementia. Our goal is to establish a register of ‘at risk’ individuals with ongoing monitoring of cognition as well as potentially modifiable risk factors for cognitive decline, with a view to providing targeted interventions as appropriate. Prior to implementing this system, we seek to confirm that we can successfully recruit older adults ‘at risk’ of dementia via the HBA e-health platform. Additionally, we aim to establish that the assessment tools used in the e-health platform accurately screen for age-related cognitive impairment and correctly identify an individual’s dementia risk factors relative to gold-standard clinical assessment tools conducted in a face-to-face clinic setting. We will invite 1500 people from across NSW aged 50-70 years to complete an online screening questionnaire as well as a brief battery of online neuropsychological tests (Cogstate). Subsequently, a subsample of 180 participants with varying levels of cognitive impairment and/or modifiable risk factors will be invited to attend one of three assessment sites for detailed neuropsychological, medical, and psychological assessment. We will compare the results of these two evaluations to ensure that the online assessment tools are sensitive to dementia risk factors and cognitive decline (i.e., equivalent to standardised assessment tools used in clinical practice). Additionally, feasibility of recruitment will be assessed based on our ability to meet recruitment targets in specified project timelines.

This study aims to determine (a) whether a mindfulness interoceptive exposure task is more efficacious than distraction and no treatment for people with chronic pain problems; and (b) whether attentional bias towards pain-related stimuli moderates the efficacy of mindfulness versus distraction. Participants with chronic pain problems will be randomized to receive one of two active interventions (either mindfulness interoceptive exposure or distraction) or a control condition. Prior to the single-session intervention, those in the active intervention groups will complete a measure of attention bias using the dot-probe with eye tracking technology at the beginning of a single-session intervention. Participants will then complete the intervention within the session and be asked to practice at home. Participants will complete a assessment of attention bias (and self-attention check; as well as pain ratings) immediately before and after the intervention is administered. They will then be asked to practice either the mindfulness or distraction task for two weeks, before completing the outcome questionnaires. The primary outcome point for the intervention is two weeks after the intervention is administered, except for disability where it is anticipated positive outcomes will not be seen until three months post-intervention. Measures will be given at pre-treatment; post-treatment (i.e. two weeks); one, three and six months later.