ANZCTR search results

This research aims to explore the journey undertaken by people with severe asthma in obtaining their severe asthma diagnosis. It has been reported that this diagnosis is often delayed and people with severe asthma experience symptoms for many years before they are diagnosed and able to access the most appropriate medicine for them. By exploring their journeys, this study aims to identify barriers to obtaining a severe asthma diagnosis and facilitating the development of a streamlined pathway for the future.

Many cancer patients and families strive to maintain hope in the face of adversity. Thus discussions on future care should be timed to follow adjustment to the diagnosis, recognise the capacity to integrate hope with truthful communication, and accommodate the preferences from those who hold diverse values and beliefs. Our research program aims to promote a patient and family centred approach to ACP, respectful of individual patient preferences and values. We have previously described the iterative and dynamic nature of decision-making in cancer, the caregiver role in decision-making, the benefit of patient-caregiver dyads as an entity in ACP and introduced the vignette technique as an approach to facilitate discussions. More recently, innovative approaches such as the use of video decision support tools (VDST) have been used to elicit EOL care preferences. We aim to explore this novel way by modelling values-based EOL decision-making conversations between patient-caregiver dyads, to assist patients and their families to reach shared-decision making. We were awarded a Bethlehem Research Griffith Foundation Grant in 2018. To date 87 patient-caregiver dyads have been randomized to an intervention or control arm. Our preliminary statistical analysis suggest that we have to expand our sample size to ensure more meaningful outcomes

The purpose of this trial is to assess the visual performance of astigmatic contact lenses compared to dual-focus contact lenses.

The purpose of this trial is to assess the visual performance of a monthly, centre-near multifocal contact lens available in two near additions against two commercially-available equivalents. Participants will each lens for one month on a daily wear basis.

Making a decision about elective egg freezing can be difficult and requires weighing up a number of different factors including costs, side-effects and the uncertainty of outcomes. This study aims to understand how different information resources help women making a decision about egg freezing. Participation will involve completing three online surveys over a 12 month period which take about 10-25 minutes each to complete. You will also be randomly allocated into one of two groups. Each group will be emailed different online information to look at, and you can spend as much or as little time as you like using this information. The surveys will cover topics including: personal details about yourself; how you are feeling; your decision-making, understanding, experience and attitudes towards egg freezing; and questions relating to information resources.

Pulmonary and cardiac rehabilitation programs are part of standard care for people with chronic respiratory conditions and cardiac disease. As part of these programs, a mix of endurance and resistance exercise training is undertaken, with the benefits of improving exercise tolerance, reducing symptoms, improving quality of life and reducing the risk of future cardiac events. However, some individuals undertaking a pulmonary or cardiac rehabilitation program achieve minimal benefit. For some individuals in pulmonary rehabilitation, this has been attributed to symptoms of breathlessness or fatigue which may reduce the adherence to an exercise program. In cardiac rehabilitation, compliance may be dependent on the degree of pleasure experienced during the program as well as motivation and family support. In healthy people, listening to music during exercise can reduce the perception of fatigue or breathlessness and this has been linked to achievement in greater exercise intensity, due to the distraction of the music listening. To maximise the benefits of music listening, the tempo of the music and type of music are both important. It is thought that music listening during cardiac and pulmonary rehabilitation programs may optimise the benefits of these exercise sessions, as it may desensitise individuals to their symptoms of breathlessness and fatigue and may enhance motivation for attending these programs. Anecdotally, background music is often played during cardiac or pulmonary rehabilitation programs as part of clinical practice. However, the use of background music in these program, the actual choice of music and the reasons for these choices have not been examined. In addition, while individuals attending these programs may choose to listen to their own music choices, but the frequency to which this occurs, the interface used for self-selected music listening and the reasons for self-selected music choices have not been examined.

Functional dyspepsia (FD), characterised by symptoms of epigastric pain or early satiety and post prandial distress, has been associated with duodenal eosinophilia, raising the possibility that it is driven by an environmental allergen. Non-coeliac gluten or wheat sensitivity (NCG/WS) has also been associated with both dyspeptic symptoms and duodenal eosinophilia, suggesting an overlap between these two conditions. The aim of this study is to evaluate the role of wheat (specifically gluten and fructans) in symptom reduction in participants with FD in a pilot randomized double-blind, placebo controlled, dietary crossover trial.

During the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020, a large number of patients attending Australian Emergency Departments (EDs) require viral screening to allow appropriate disposition and treatment decision making. Over 1000 tests were performed in Box Hill ED during July 2020. This process is currently hampered by the long turnaround times of laboratory PCR testing, which currently takes up to 8 hours to be available in this setting. This prolonged COVID-19 time-to-result(s) leads to poor patient flow as COVID-19 suspected patients are held in assessment cohort areas until their results are available. Prolonged ED length of stay has been associated with adverse patient outcomes in general. In addition, lack of single occupancy rooms means that COVID-19 negative patients cohorted in these assessment areas are at risk of acquiring infection from positive patients before test results are available. Rapid, accurate diagnostic or screening tests are therefore urgently required. Current ED testing for COVID-19 involves obtaining nasopharyngeal swabs from three sites (oropharynx and both nostrils) and performing viral PCR testing. FebriDx (Lumos diagnostics, Sarasota, Florida, US) is a TGA registered single use point of care testing (POCT) device that detects two host response proteins, Myxovirus resistance protein A (MxA) and C reactive protein (CRP), in finger prick blood samples, and is designed to distinguish viral from bacterial respiratory infection. Results are available after 10 minutes. A recent UK study performed by Clark et al during the pandemic, found the FebriDX test had a high accuracy for the identification of COVID-19 in hospitalised adults and suggested FebriDx could be deployed as a patient triage tool. In this study of 248 patients, the FebriDx test was shown to have a sensitivity of 93% and specificity of 86% for COVID-19 when compared to reference PCR testing. In their population this translated to a negative predictive value for COVID-19 of 93%. Due to different testing criteria and lower population COVID-19 infection rates, Australian data is required to assess applicability of FebriDx test as a first line screening test for suspected COVID-19 patients within Australian hospitals.

Chest pressure during direct current cardioversion reduces transthoracic resistance and increases cardiac energy delivery. This may decrease energy requirements, potentially increasing cardioversion success and reducing procedure time. The purpose of this study is to examine the efficacy of an initial strategy of chest pressure for direct current cardioversion for atrial fibrillation. Those enrolled will be randomised in a 1 to 1 ratio to the control or intervention arm. The intervention strategy will consist of up to three attempts of direct current cardioversion with chest pressure with increasing energy administered as follows: - 1 shock – 150 Joules with chest pressure - 1 shock – 200 Joules with chest pressure - 2 shocks – 360 Joules with chest pressure Manual chest pressure will be applied with gloves and a towel by the proceduralist (cardiologist/cardiology trainee) over the anterior pad. A maximum of four shocks will be provided until cardioversion success or failure, with a maximum energy of 360 Joules. The control strategy will consist of up to three attempts of direct current cardioversion with increasing energy administered as follows: - 1 shock – 150 Joules without chest pressure - 1 shock – 200 Joules without chest pressure - 1 shock - 360 Joules without chest pressure - 1 shock – 360 Joules with chest pressure A maximum of four shocks will be provided until cardioversion success or failure, with a maximum energy of 360 Joules.

The purpose of this research study is to observe any changes in sexual health that patients may have following the diagnosis and treatment of a head and neck cancer called oropharyngeal cancer (which includes tonsil and base of tongue cancers). Who is it for? You may be eligible for this study if you are aged 18 years or older, and you have started chemoradiotherapy or radiotherapy for human papillomavirus (HPV)-associated oropharyngeal cancer in the last week, or are about to start chemoradiotherapy or radiotherapy for HPV-associated oropharyngeal cancer soon. Participants enrolled in this study will be asked to attend up to five study visits at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, starting from enrolment and continuing each year up until 2 years after they have completed chemoradiotherapy or radiotherapy treatments. Each study visit will take approximately 40 minutes and participants will be asked to complete a series of questionnaires about their sexual health, quality of life, head and neck symptom burden, emotional distress, body image, resilience and levels of optimism. Participants will also be asked to list in order how important sexual function is compared to other functions such as swallowing and eating. These questionnaires will be administered in either a paper or electronic format and patients will be able to answer the majority of the questionnaires at home, except for the exercise where patients will be asked to order their priorities (sexual function, swallowing, eating) which will be done in the hospital face to face with a member of the study team. It is hoped this research may be used to improve health outcomes for future patients with human papillomavirus-associated oropharyngeal cancer by determining how chemoradiotherapy and radiotherapy treatments impacts sexual health and function