ANZCTR search results

Many children with cerebral palsy participate in fewer physical activities than peers without a physical disability. Some studies have tried to increase participation in physical activities for children with CP through programs that develop their physical skills and remediate physical impairments like low muscle strength. Participation depends on many things however, not just the presence of physical limitations; participation is related to environmental barriers like lack of accessible venues, and personal factors like self-efficacy. This project will test whether a new integration of physiotherapy and a positive counselling technique called motivational interviewing can increase the participation of children with cerebral palsy in physical activities, compared to a control group who receive usual care. We think the intervention will work because it primarily focuses on environmental and personal factors, and because it may help parents to be supportive of their child's autonomy (making choices).

To evaluate the rate of sustained virological response among HBeAg-negative chronic hepatitis B patients who discontinue long-term NA therapy.

The ingestion of excess energy, particularly fat, is largely responsible for the current epidemic of lifestyle-related diseases such as obesity, diabetes and sarcopenia (the progressive loss of muscle mass with increasing age). The development of sarcopenia is exacerbated by low levels of physical activity and also in overweight or obese individuals through an increase in body fat and concomitant decrease in muscle mass. However, performing resistance and aerobic exercise in combination with the ingestion of high quality protein sources (e.g., dairy-based protein) has been shown to enhance and/or maintain muscle mass. This has important health implications for reducing the risk of developing sarcopenia, obesity or other debilitating health conditions such as diabetes. Accordingly, the aim of this research is to investigate whether a short-term (9 day) high fat diet (HFD) decreases muscle protein synthesis (MPS) and, whether performing resistance exercise during consumption of the HFD can in part relieve the repressive effects of fat toward skeletal muscle anabolism; hence, MPS.

This study's purpose is to compare photodynamic therapy with radiation therapy (RT) for superficial skin cancer. Who is it for? You may be eligible to join this study if you have received a biopsy-proven diagnosis of superficial basal cell carcinoma or Bowen’s disease, for which you have received no previous treatment. Study Details: Participants in this study will be randomly (by chance) allocated to one of two groups. Participants in one group will receive photodynamic therapy, which involves the application of a topical agent to the area to be treated, and then application of a certain type of light. A red light will be placed 5-8cm away from your skin surface for approximately 9 minutes. You will receive two sets of treatment 1-4 weeks apart. Participants assigned to the other group will receive radiation therapy, which involves highly-focused radiation from outside the body onto the lesion site to destroy cancerous cells. Participants will be asked to undergo clinical assessments (including photos to assess cosmetic outcomes) and complete questionnaires before treatment and 3 months, 1 year and 2 years post-treatment. It is hoped that this research will provide insight in the efficacy and cosmetic outcomes of two different types of non-surgical intervention of skin cancer.

There is increasing concern that over 50% of mothers and 60% of breastfed young infants in disadvantaged areas globally have micronutrient malnutrition and iron deficiency anaemia (IDA), with similar rates found in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. Despite a decade of substantial investments in Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) programs, many barriers still remain to the provision of antenatal care in remote areas. There have been no studies of the effectiveness of peer led clinical governance to improve antenatal in remote and disadvantaged communities who are likely to benefit most. We have been funded by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) to undertake a study of a new locally driven enhanced support model (clinical governance and peer led targeted support) to reduce anaemia rates and improve the quality of maternal and infant primary care. The study will be based in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. The intervention is clinical governance and peer led targeted support for maternal and early infant care delivered by dedicated local midwife coordinators. We will evaluate this model of enhanced support using a rigorous stepped wedge design approach. Structured questionnaires and data collection will be used to assess acceptability, feasibility and sustainability. Our primary outcome measure is improved iron deficiency anaemia in infants aged six months. Secondary outcome measures are improved iron deficiency anaemia in mothers at six months post-partum; improved Bayley neurodevelopmental scores in infants aged six months; improved satisfaction of mothers about maternal health care. We will also assess the cost effectiveness of the model of enhanced support. Although we are aiming to measure the primary outcome at six months post-partum we will be accepting measures from 4-8 months due to difficulties in finding all infants at exactly six months post-partum. This study will be conducted over a five year period in partnership with service providers in the Kimberley. This is the first population and region based study of clinical governance and targeted peer led support in a remote region. The results of our study will be used to develop improved primary care models and to improve health outcomes for all Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander mothers and infants. These are vital steps towards more equitable health service delivery for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in Australia.

The aim of this proposal is to conduct the first study of the impact of subcutaneous administration of PT-141 on key mechanisms involved in social communication in adults with autism. We hypothesize that PT-141 will, in comparison to an identical and matched placebo: increase gaze duration and fixations to key face regions, improve accuracy and the speed of identification of facial emotion recognition, increase heart rate variability, and improve accuracy of response to social cues.

Supporting centre based childcare services to provide healthy food can make an important contribution to promoting health of young children at a critical stage in their development. This study aims to assess the effectiveness of a large scale intervention aiming to increase childcare service implementation of menu nutrition guidelines. The study will recruit 60 long day care services that will be randomised to receive the intervention to support nutrition guideline implementation, or a usual care wait list control group. The intervention will consist of multiple strategies including staff training, executive support, performance feedback, resources and ongoing support. Menu assessments before and after the intervention will be conducted to assess the effectiveness of the initiative in improving compliance with setting nutrition guidelines. We hypothesis that childcare service's implementation of nutrition guidelines will improve as a result of the intervention.

We are undertaking one of the first seaweed dietary fibre and food ingredient studies on people with gut health concerns. The onset of chronic health disorders such as Type II Diabetes Mellitus are potentially related to reduced gut health. If seaweed dietary fibres can help improve the gut condition then it may be one option for preventing diabetic and other growing health concerns related to the gut. Previous research in other laboratory studies and in animal trials with seaweed dietary fibres, have shown significant reductions in inflammation, glucose & insulin stress, as well as positive shifts in gut flora composition. Despite the well-established evidence for the safety of consumption of the identified seaweeds and their dietary fibre extracts, very few studies have investigated the health outcomes in human trials. We will test if an Australian species seaweed, dietary-fibre extract and food ingredient can help the gut health condition, as well as assess changes to blood health indices and quality of life.

There is a dearth of research which takes a multi-compound approach to dietary interventions, in humans, aimed at improving outcome measures of cognition. Animal research in particular points towards fatty acids and flavonoids having a potentiating effect on each other, and possibly even being synergistic. Thus, study products will be administered in the present trial comprising both of these compounds, with a view to investigating their potential effects on cognition in older adults with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or subjective memory impairment (SMI). In addition, a group of 20 healthy control participants were studied at baseline only to allow researchers to explore hippocampal integrity within the continuum of cognitive decline from healthy, to subjective memory impairment, to mild cognitive impairment.

Mindfulness is an approach showing promise for youth, but at present the methodological quality of studies in this domain is low. This study is an extension of a pilot study and seeks to compare an 8 week mindfulness programme, the .b mindfulness in schools curriculum, with a control group and with a group receiving the mindfulness curriculum PLUS parental support (an information session and weekly updates regarding lesson content and practices taught). The inclusion of the latter is aimed at improving compliance with home practice, with evidence suggesting that this is positively related to improved outcomes. Hypotheses 1. It is predicted that the primary outcome measures of anxiety, depression and weight/shape concerns will be lower in the parental enhanced mindfulness group compared to the standard mindfulness group, which will in turn be lower than in the control group at post-intervention and follow-up. 2. It is predicted that the primary outcome measure of wellbeing will be higher in the parental enhanced mindfulness group compared to the standard mindfulness group, which will in turn be higher than in the control group at post-intervention and follow-up. 3. It is predicted that the mindfulness interventions (both groups) will be more effective in improving the primary outcome variables (anxiety, depression, wellbeing, and weight/shape concerns) in those with high levels of anxiety, depression, and weight/shape concerns (i.e., in those who need it most). Additional moderators will also be examined (socioeconomic status, gender, lesson length - which varies across schools) however no prediction is made as to the direction of influence for these variables. 4. It is predicted that the parental enhanced mindfulness group will report higher levels of homework practice than the standard mindfulness intervention. 5. It is predicted that improved outcomes in the parental enhanced mindfulness group will be mediated at least partially by level of homework practice. 6. No prediction is made as to which facets of mindfulness (as measured on the CHIME-Youth scale) act as mediators for improvements in outcome measures.