ANZCTR search results

This study is designed to test whether the Acute Care Index of Function tool, a measure of global function used by Physiotherapists, has adequate reliability between therapists to be useful as an outcome measure in critically ill patients. This tool has been found to be reliable and valid in acute neurological patients but has not yet been tested in a heterogeneous critically ill population. This study will also test the validity of the ACIF by comparing it to the ICU Mobility Scale (IMS) which has been found to have adequate reliability and validity in critically ill patients.

Taking 10,000 steps a day is promoted by The Centres of Disease Control and Prevention, and The American College of Sports Medicine to equate to a healthy level of physical activity (Pate et al, 1995). Through the use of wearable activity monitors, this study will objectively quantify the limitation in physical activity that hip labral tear patients subjectively report. The study aims to determine whether hip arthroscopic surgery improves physical activity, pain, and quality of life. Satisfaction with surgery will also be assessed and provide further insight into the efficacy of arthroscopic hip surgery.

This project's hypotheses are that early access to vocational rehabilitation services for in-patients in NSW spinal units will increase return to work rates and have a positive impact on general health and well being of the participants. This study will also have other components to complement the quantitative aspect namely a qualitative sub-evaluation (investigating the perspective of the participants and rehabilitation staff), a process sub-evaluation (with reference to the implementation of the intervention), and a cost sub-evaluation.

This study will let us explore the safety of a closed loop for the management system that is designed for unmonitored home use. It is possible that if the system is stressed, that hypoglycaemia can still happen. For example during and after exercise, or if the glucose sensor is over reading. We will simulate these possibilites while participants are in a hospital system and are closely monitored. This will help us learn and improve the system, and educate participants in the future, when the device is used in the community.

Asthma is a high impact, chronic inflammatory airway disease where modulation holds the promise of long term clinical benefits. Different types of cells have been involved in asthma such as eosinophils, neutrophils and a mixture of both eosinophils and neutrophils. The main purpose of this study is to see if treatment with conjugated pneumococcal vaccine (Prevenar 13) will help people with eosinophilic asthma. It is hypothesised that Prevenar 13 will attenuate eosinophilic airway inflammation and improve health status.

The aim of the study is to investigate whether an intervention to reduce sitting time in the high school setting will result in less sitting time for adolescents aged 12-14 years and to assess whether a reduction in sedentary time has a positive effect on student cognition. Schools will be randomised to either a control or intervention after baseline data is collected. The six-month intervention will introduce a number of strategies to encourage adolescents to sit less or stand more during the school day by breaking up or reducing sitting time.

Obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) is characterised by a partial or complete collapse of the upper airway during sleep. Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) therapy acts as a positive airway splint, delivering a fixed positive airway pressure to the upper airway via a tube and mask. CPAP compliance is strongly influenced by the patient’s mask system. As masks are worn every night the comfort, seal, stability and ease of use of a CPAP mask is highly important. ResMed teams are constantly designing potential new products. At times it is desirable for internal staff members to volunteer to trial prototypes of masks, frames, headgears and accessories because: employees may wish to assess a design to experience how it works and feels, and determine ways to improve it; there may be a need to gain initial feedback on whether an idea is worth pursuing; design team wishes to narrow down options before proceeding to a user trial on OSA patients.

Obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) is characterised by a partial or complete collapse of the upper airway during sleep. Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) therapy acts as a positive airway splint, delivering a fixed positive airway pressure to the upper airway via a tube and mask. CPAP compliance is strongly influenced by the patient’s mask system. As masks are worn every night the comfort, seal, stability and ease of use of a CPAP mask is highly important. The product development of mask systems is an iterative process. Evaluation of the comfort, seal, stability and ease of use of the mask system by patients in their home environment provides the required information for these iterative design changes. This project will allow the iterative testing of mask systems by patients by comparing them to already released masks or acceptable subjective levels.

Background Whilst pregnancy is a risk factor for urinary incontinence (UI), this condition may precede pregnancy. The prevalence of UI in nulligravid women has not been reported. Objective To investigate the prevalence of UI in young nulligravid women, potential risk factors and the impact on quality of life. Design Single centre, cross-sectional, self-administered questionnaire-based study. Setting University clinical research department Participants Nulligravid Australian women aged 16 to 30 years. Measurements The Questionnaire for Urinary Incontinence Diagnosis, the Psychological General Wellbeing Index (PGWB), the King’s Health Questionnaire and the International Physical Activity Questionnaire. Demographic variables and potential risk factors were also documented. Results 1002 women, mean age 22.4 (SD 3.2) years, provided data. The rate of any UI was 12.6% (95% confidence interval (CI), 10.5-14.7%). The rate of stress-only UI was 6.2% (95% CI, 4.7-7.7%), urge-only UI 4.5% (95% CI, 3.2-5.8%) and mixed UI 1.9% (95% CI, 1.1-2.7%). In logistic regression analyses, ever being sexually active (OR 2.33, 95%CI 1.40 to 3.88) was associated with an increased likelihood of UI, whereas current use of the combined oral contraceptive (COC) was associated with a reduced likelihood of UI (OR 0.38 95% CI 0.24 to 0.61). Women with UI had significantly lower wellbeing than women without UI (mean difference in total PGWB score 5.3 (95% CI 2.3-8.3). Statistically significant lower scores were seen for the PGWB domains of for anxiety (P<0.001), depression (P<0.001), positive well-being (P=0.02) and self-control (P=0.001). Limitations The findings relate to a relatively healthy and active cohort. Conclusions UI was common in this sample of healthy, nulligravid young women and was significantly associated with lower general psychological wellbeing. Further study is required to understand the pathophysiology of UI in young women and management options.

The rationale of this project is to study hypogonadism in the background of regional north Queensland. In the setting of a small population with a relatively variable socioeconomic status attributed to the mining and farming industry, it is interesting to evaluate the different causes of hypogonadism ranging from pathological causes to lifestyle choices with respect to exogenous steroid intake and a widespread use of complementary and alternative medicines. This study will also be stratifying how the level of testosterone may provide an insight to the primary general practitioner as to the possible causes of hypogonadism and if there is any correlation between the two parameters. Furthermore, a study on males with hypogonadism in regional Australia has not been previously undertaken. With the knowledge that a low serum testosterone is known to provide various clinical complications such as increased microvascular disease, hyperlipidaemia, osteopenia, fatigue, weakness and psychological distress from impaired libido it is important to conquer these patients early and attempt to find any underlying cause behind these patients’ hypogonadism.