ANZCTR search results

Observations from previous studies suggest that testosterone acts on liver to induce protein anabolic effect. We will test the hypothesis that testosterone by acting on the liver, preserves protein loss in healthy men.

The primary objective of this study is to determine the safety and tolerability of autologous stromal vascular fraction (SVF) compared to placebo in patients with osteoarthritis of the knee. Secondary objectives are intended to measure differences between placebo and SVF based therapies including improved pain control, improvement of WOMAC, weight bearing x-rays, improvement in the AQoL (Australian Quality of Life) instrument, reduction in rescue medication consumption and MRI to assess disease modifying activity.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of intermittent dieting compared to continuous dieting on weight loss after an intensive weight loss period, This period will last for 8 weeks for the continuous group and 16 weeks for the intermittent groups; “week-on, week-off” strategy and the 5:2 strategy. We will also look at the effects on weight loss maintenance after 12 months. Another aim is to look at changes in muscle mass, blood lipids and glucose. We hypothesize that those on the intermittent energy restriction patterns will achieve comparable weight loss maintenance at 12 months compared to those on the continuous energy restriction pattern.

This study will investigate standard brain training, tailored brain training, and brain stimulation for improving cognitive functioning in people with Parkinson's Disease and Mild Cognitive Impairment. It is predicted that tailored brain training will improve cognitive functioning to a greater extent than standard brain training. It is also predicted that tailored brain training combined with brain stimulation will lead to even greater improvements in cognitive functioning. Findings from this study will provide valuable information into the therapeutic potential of brain training and stimulation for people with Parkinson's Disease and Mild Cognitive Impairment.

The study aims to examine the effect of buprenorphine for pain in opioid dependent people. Most research with buprenorphine for pain has been conducted using doses that are at least 10 times lower than those used in opioid dependent people. This study aims to examine if increasing doses of buprenorphine result in improved pain response in the dose ranges used for treatment of opioid dependence.

The primary aim of this study is to investigate the effectiveness, measured in terms of pain and disability, of the integrated addition of an intervention aimed at modulating early stress responses (SIT) to a standard physiotherapy exercise approach for individuals with acute whiplash injury. The second aim is to investigate the effectiveness of integrated SIT and physiotherapy exercise in decreasing post-traumatic stress symptoms, anxiety and depression. It is hypothesised that: * In individuals with acute whiplash, SIT integrated into a physiotherapy exercise program will be more effective than exercise alone where effect is measured in terms of pain related disability. That is, individuals in the SIT and exercise group will experience statistically significant, greater improvements in self-reported pain and disability than the exercise only group immediately following the 6 week block of treatment. These improvements will be sustained at the 6 month and 12 month follow-up. * The effect of SIT integrated into physiotherapy exercise will also be greater than that of physiotherapy exercise alone where effect is measured in terms of post-traumatic stress symptoms, anxiety, depression, pain catastrophising and fear of movement. In other words, participants who receive SIT intervention will exhibit improved coping strategies, reflected by statistically significant reductions in psychological parameters listed above.

A Variety of research suggests that hypnosis can be used successfully to treat acute pain (Patterson and Jensen, 2003; Wright and Drummond, 2001). Specifically, it has been demonstrated that hypnosis can reduce the intensity of pain experienced by patients with burn injuries during treatment (Wright and Drummond, 2000). Hypnosis also appears to have unique effects above and beyond other pain management treatments, such as opioid analgesics and relaxation training (Patterson, 2010). Despite this, it appears that hospitals do not routinely use hypnosis or other psychological pain management strategies with their patients. One reason for this may be that hospitals are not well resourced with clinical psychology staff, and thus their time is taken up with high priority issues such as post trauma psychological symptoms. Another reason may be a lack of education amongst medical staff of the benefits of hypnosis for pain management. It has been suggested that nurses are well positioned within a hospital environment to use hypnosis for pain management (Valente, 2006). Nurses spend more time with patients than other clinicians, and are often present during painful procedures. However, nurses have a demanding role and may not have time amongst their general duties, or specialist training, to work through hypnosis protocols with patients. It has been suggested that nurses may have time to administer and reinforce an audio recording of a hypnosis protocol, and that this may have similar benefits to protocols administered directly by a practitioner. The aim of this study is to trial an audio recording of a Rapid Induction Analgesia (RIA) hypnosis protocol with a student sample, as a pilot study, to determine if a larger scale study at the burns unit at Fiona Stanley hospital may be worthwhile in 2015. The effects of hypnosis on students’ experience of pain will be examined. References Patterson, D (2010). Clinical Hypnosis for Pain Control. Washington: American Psychological Association. Patterson, D., & Jensen, M. (2003). Hypnosis and clinical pain. Psychological Bulletin, 129:4, 495-521 Valente, S. (2006). Hypnosis for pain management. Journal of Psychosocial Nursing, 44:2, 2-9 Wright, B. & Drummond, P. (2000). Rapid induction analgesia for the alleviation of procedural pain during burn care. Burns, 26, 275-282 Wright, B. & Drummond, P. (2001). The effect of rapid induction analgesia on subjective pain ratings and pain tolerance. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis. 49:2. 109-122

Exposure to secondhand smoke (SHS) is a significant contributor to ill health among children. This study examines the effectiveness of a child health nurse intrvention delivered as part of routine care in reducing SHS exposure amongst infants, increaseing parental smoking cessation and implementation of household smoking bans.

We modify the positioning of patients going under robot-assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy, with head and shoulder in horizontal positioning and compare their intra ocular pressure to patients in standard position; 23 degree head-down trendelenburg.

Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) is well established to assess bone strength in clinical settings; however, it has many limitations. This research aims to evaluate the role of peripheral quantitative computed tomography (pQCT), an alternative bone density testing method that is believed to provide more information than DXA, for the assessment of bone strength. We will recruit patients with osteoporotic fracture and evaluate whether pQCT measures are associated with bone strength. We have already obtained normal pQCT measures in healthy young adults and calculated the means and standard deviations. We will compare patients’ pQCT results with the normal values to achieve our research aim. We may also find new factors that may contribute to fracture prediction in older patients.