ANZCTR search results

This study aims to evaluate the feasibility of delivering an individualised exercise prehabilitation program amongst high risk surgical patients presenting for major cancer surgery. Who is it for? You may be eligible to join this study if you are aged 18 years or above and are scheduled to undergo major abdominal cancer surgery. Study details Participants in this study will receive an indivdiualised exercise prehabilitation program for a period of six weeks. Potential participants are recruited through our cardiopulmonary exercise testing clinic at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre. Participants are then followed for a period of six weeks preoperatively and thirty days post-operatively in order to review any surgical complications, length of stay in hospital and other clinical outcomes. If preoperative exercise is feasible within this population, we may be able to implement a program for patients of high risk to lessen surgical risk post-operatively.

Approximately half of those attending residential rehabilitation for methamphetamine use disorder (MUD) use methamphetamine within 3-months of leaving rehabilitation. One factor associated with relapse following residential treatment is “approach bias” – easily-triggered impulses to approach drug-related stimuli, and to seek drugs in response to these stimuli. Approach bias develops after frequent drug use, but studies in people with alcohol use disorders (including our own research) suggest that approach bias can be reduced through computerised training known as “approach bias modification” (ABM), which also reduces likelihood of relapse. However, aside from our small open-label feasibility study with methamphetamine withdrawal patients, this approach has not been trialed in people seeking treatment for MUD. Moreover, the approach of seeking to increase the efficacy of ABM by personalising the stimuli used in ABM training (e.g. to match the specific forms of drugs and route of administration that individual clients use), has not been trialed for any substance so far. We intend to commence a pilot RCT to test a 2-week course of personalised ABM (3 sessions per week). Patients with MUD will be randomised to receive either personalised ABM or a sham training control condition. Participants will be followed up 1- and 3-months post-discharge from rehabilitation to determine whether personalised ABM reduces methamphetamine use, craving, MUD symptoms, and methamphetamine approach bias, relative to patients who receive “sham” training.

In Australia, 35,000 people have cerebral palsy (CP), and between 60-70% of these have difficulties with movement on both sides of their body. There are currently no effective interventions for children with CP that affects both sides of their body to improve their ability to use their hands, walk and perform daily life tasks. We will test the efficacy of Hand Arm Bimanual Intensive Training Including Lower Extremity (HABIT-ILE), in pre-school aged children with cerebral palsy and compare results to usual care.

Insomnia is a highly prevalent and burdensome disease. It is thought to affect as many as one in three adults worldwide at any one time. Treatment options for insomnia are often limited to doctor-implemented cognitive behavioural training (CBT), pharmaceutical intervention, or a combination of the two. Whilst traditionally effective, both options have considerable limitations, most frequently those associated with cost, compliance and effectiveness (CBT), or tolerance and addiction potential (pharmaceutical). The Australian Federal Government recently approved the medical use of cannabinoids among select patient groups. The main active ingredient, cannabidiol (CBD), may have sedating and/or sleep-enhancing effects. There is therefore increasing global interest as its potential use as an alternate sleep-aid. The primary objective of this research is to examine whether 2 weeks of nightly supplementation with a novel sublingual CBD-treatment improves sleep outcomes among individuals with moderate-severe insomnia. Specifically, we seek to examine the effect of treatment on subjective [sleep onset latency, sleep efficiency (%), and time awake after sleep onset] and objective sleep quality [as measured by Actigraphy outcomes (time in bed, sleep efficiency (%), number of awakenings, sleep latency) after 2-week supplementation with sublingual CBD compared with a placebo.

The current proposal will assess the different taste perceptions between allergic individuals and non-allergic individuals which we hypothesize to be associated with single nuclear polymorphisms of taste receptor genes. A further study of the mechanisms underlying in taste receptors and immune cells will be carried out by evaluating the levels of taste receptor genes expressed in immune. Medically diagnosed food allergic and non-allergic cohorts will be recruited from the Allergy Medical Group, Queensland Allergy Services and the University of Queensland.

Persistent or chronic pelvic pain affects approximately 15% of women aged 18-50 with significant implications for patient quality of life. We plan to run a prospective observational study looking at the injection of botulinum toxin A (Botox) into the pelvic floor under ultrasound guidance and follow pain and quality of life scores in women who have failed conventional treatment. We hypothesise that injection of Botox into selected muscles of the pelvic floor will lead to improved pain scores and quality of life in women with chronic pelvic pain secondary to pelvic floor muscular spasm.

The overall aim of this project is to identify best practice in the planning and treatment of radiotherapy for anal cancer. Through measuring the best options available for radiotherapy we aim to maximize the potential of radiotherapy to control disease and minimize treatment side effects for patients. As a rare cancer there is a relatively small amount of research and information available about the optimal radiotherapy procedures to be used in the treatment of anal cancer. This project aims to address this with respect to the planning and treatment options currently available.

Respiratory illness is the most common reason for young children to be hospitalised. Many children receive High Flow Nasal Cannula (HFNC) respiratory support which delivers high flow rates of heated humidified air/oxygen to the nose through nasal prongs to assist their breathing. However, it is currently unknown whether it is safe for children to eat and drink whilst they are receiving HFNC support. HFNC increases pharyngeal pressures to keep the airway open and reduce work of breathing, but it is suspected that these increased pressures may affect a child’s ability to protect their airway during swallowing. This may cause food or fluid into enter the child’s lungs when eating or drinking (oropharyngeal aspiration) when on HFNC, and this may damage the lungs and prolong the child’s recovery. This study aims to determine whether oropharyngeal aspiration occurs (incidence of aspiration) by having a speech pathologist assess the child’s feeding and swallowing at the bedside (and listening to swallow sounds via a microphone attached to the throat) and whist eating and drinking during a videofluoroscopic swallow study (VFSS, a dynamic x-ray procedure). The research speech pathologist will assess 60 children from preterm (35 weeks gestational age) through to 5 years of age who are receiving HFNC respiratory support. We hypothesize that preterm and infant children will have a higher incidence of aspiration than older children; and that children on higher HFNC flow rates will have a higher incidence of aspiration than those on lower flow rates. Our study findings will inform the development of evidence-based guidelines to inform healthcare professionals about the safety for oral feeding of young children receiving HFNC respiratory support.

This study aims to evaluate the tolerability and safety of a sub-urothelial injection of durvalumab for Bladder Cancer. Who is it for? You may be eligible to join this study if you are aged 18 years or above with a diagnosis of muscle invasive bladder cancer or high-risk non-muscle invasive (T1, high grade Ta, carcinoma in-situ) bladder tumours and scheduled for a cystectomy. Participants will be allocated to receive a single dose of durvalumab to their bladder. The dose will be decided according to the dose-escalation schedule. Participants will be required to answer a series of questions in regards to their experience whilst receiving care, and consent to their removed tissue being used for this research. It is hoped this research will provide an alternative, safer and better tolerated treatment option for people with high-risk non-muscle invasive bladder cancer.

This study will trial the 6-month Further Enabling Care at Home (FECH) program. The FECH program is delivered to (family) carers by specially prepared nurses over the phone, after the discharge from hospital of the older patient (care recipient), and is designed to guide the carer to identify and rate their support needs, then address the most pressing of these needs via a problem solving approach. Hypotheses to be tested are that carers will benefit from the program in terms of improved health and preparedness to care; care recipients will benefit in terms of improved symptoms and independence; reduced carer and care recipient health service use for both carers and care recipients will also result, as well as delayed residential care admission for care recipients; and the program will be cost effective overall.