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The aim of this project is to assess the effectiveness of a web-based personal health management system, called healthy.me, to support healthcare management. healthy.me provides consumers condition specific information, as well as online tools to manage their care including a personal health record. We hypothesise that use of healthy.me will improve the uptake of preventative screening activities and this randomized controlled trial will specifically test whether system use is associated with an increased rate of STI screening among young people aged 18-29 years.

This research will define the mechanisms underlying the presence of gastroesophageal reflux (GOR) in individuals with obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA). Both are common conditions with OSA affecting 1 in 20 individuals and GOR affecting approximately 1 in 12 individuals in the community. Continuous positive airways pressure (CPAP), the most common and effective treatment for OSA has also been found to treat GOR. GOR symptoms are more common in OSA than the general population (14% vs 5%) and increase with increasing OSA severity. Nighttime GOR is a particular worry in individuals with OSA with 1 in 3 OSA patients reporting overnight symptoms. GOR has significant negative health effects in individuals with OSA including painful symptoms and an increase in cancer risk. Identification of the reasons for the increased incidence of reflux in OSA may assist in improving prevention and/or treatment of GOR in individuals with OSA as well as increasing quality of life in these patients. Aims The overall aim of the proposed research is to determine the underlying reason for the presence of gastroesophageal reflux (GOR) in individuals with obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA), including the roles of obesity and arousal from sleep. Furthermore, we aim to determine the effect of OSA treatment with CPAP therapy on nighttime GOR in individuals with and without OSA. . Methods We aim to recruit a total of 80 individuals of mixed gender between the ages of 18 and 70 years of age. Each participant will undergo a 24 hour pH-impedance study for assessment of reflux severity, an overnight sleep study and a DXA scan to assess obesity and fat distribution; or a 48hour recording of oesophageal pH with two consecutive overnight sleep studies, of with CPAP therapy and one without, in a randomised fashion.

The primary purpose of this study is to assess the effectiveness of a flurbiprofen spray formulation, over a period of three days, in relieving the symptoms of sore throat due to an upper respiratory tract infection. Flurbiprofen lozenges are approved by the Australian government’s health authority, the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) for the relief of pain, swelling and inflammation due to severe sore throat. In this study, a spray formulation of flurbiprofen will be tested to determine if it too is effective in the relief of sore throat.

This is a physiological study to assess potential brain waves change during the ventilatory response to hypercapnia and hypoxia tests. We hypothesize that there is an intrinsic link between the change of blood CO2 level and the spectral power of brain waves.

Red blood cell (RBC) transfusion is a very common and potentially life-saving treatment in intensive care units (ICUs). However, RBC transfusion has also been associated with an increased risk of morbidity and/or mortality in critically ill, surgical and trauma patients. Although this association is multifactorial, attention has increasingly focused on the possible adverse impact of transfusing RBC which have been stored for a prolonged time.The primary aim of the trial is to determine if transfusion of the freshest available RBC in critically ill patients compared to standard care decreases patient mortality.

In order to cope with population ageing it is vital that safe, affordable and effective strategies, to arrest or delay cognitive decline, are developed. Research over 30 years has indicated that physical exercise produces small to moderate effects on cognition. Recent studies indicate motor fitness, compared to physical fitness, has different effects on cognition. This randomised controlled trial will test the efficacy of a novel, complex, community-based exercise program, in healthy women aged 65-75 years. The outcomes measured will include cognitive and physical functioning and serum levels of biomarkers related to cognitive functioning.

The purpose of this study is to implement and evaluate an internet-based program designed to increase levels of physical activity (and reduce sedentary behaviours) in middle-aged male university employees aged between 35 and 64 years.

Insulin pumps are increasingly being used to deliver insulin for people with type 1 diabetes. The two main components of insulin pump delivery are firstly "bolus" insulin, used with meals or to correct high glucose levels, and secondly "basal" insulin which provides the background insulin requirements of the individual. The rate of basal insulin delivered can be adjusted with the pump, and this may vary according to the time of day, stress, illness or exercise. Information regarding changes in the basal insulin infusion rate to best match an individual's insulin requirement is essential to guide clinical decision-making. The purpose of this study is to determine the time to reach steady state circulating insulin levels after a clinically-relevant increase and also a clinically-relevant reduction in basal insulin infusion rates delivered by insulin pumps to adults with type 1 diabetes.

As the population ages there is an increasing number of elderly patients presenting to hospital with fractured hips. A large proportion of these patients receive blood transfusions, a treatment that is associated a significant cost and potential harm. Most of these patients being transfused have an iron deficiency anaemia. We plan to examine the benefit of giving intravenous iron to these patients to see if we can reduce the number needing a blood transfusion and improve nadir haemoglobin and ultimately reduce length of stay and 6 month mortality

Pain is inadequately treated in many of the surgical procedures. Postoperative pain is the main reason for the prolonged convalescence after laparoscopic (key hole) gall bladder surgery. Severe postoperative pain after gall bladder surgery can cause significant long standing pain, if not adequately treated initially. Postoperative pain has been traditionally treated with opioids, non steroidal anti-inflammatory agents and paracetamol. Opioids are associated with significant side effects and constant search for an alternative agent with similar potency and minimal side effects has been on for a very long time. Pregabalin and Gabapentin have recently elicited a lot of interest as being useful drugs for postoperative pain relief. Pregabalin has got a lot of pharmacokinetic advantages over Gabapentin as being more potent and more bioavailable with very minimal side effects. When combined with drugs like celecoxib, which are the safer versions of anti-inflammatory drugs as of current evidence, Pregabalin is likely to exhibit synergistic effect. This project evaluates the efficacy of Pregabalin, Celecoxib and their combination to treat postoperative pain in patients undergoing laparoscopic gall bladder surgery. This will be a randomized, double blind study. Selected participants will be given pregabalin, celecoxib or their combination or their placebo before and after surgery. They will be given standard general anaesthesia according to protocol. Their pain scores after surgery, demand for pain killers, anxiety levels, satisfaction with pain relief and other side effects will be recorded by a nurse. Statistical analysis will be made with the above observations to evaluate the efficacy of the study drugs. If this research yields positive result, it can add on to the evidence for using a different group of drugs for relief of acute postoperative pain as opposed to conventional pain relief with opioids. Also, the same group of drugs may be trialled in future for minimising the occurrence of chronic pain after surgery.