ANZCTR search results

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects the LEAP (Lunchtime Enjoyment Activity and Play) school playground intervention had on children’s quality of life, enjoyment and participation in physical activity during school lunch breaks. This study consisted of a movable/recycled materials intervention underpinned by a social-ecological theoretical framework that included baseline, a seven-week post-test and an eight-month follow-up data collection phase. Children within an intervention school and a matched control school aged 5-to-12-years-old were recruited for the study.

This study is evaluating whether treatment with cyclophosphamide can prevent the development of graft-versus-host disease after matched (HLA-identical) allogeneic donor transplant in patients with a haematological malignancy. Who is it for? You may be eligible to join this study if you are aged between 15-70 years and have been diagnosed with a high risk haematological malignancy suitable for treatment with an allogeneic transplant. You should have a suitable HLA-matched related donor or unrelated volunteer donor identified and available. Study details All participants in this study will receive 50mg/kg of Cyclophosphamide on Day 3 and Day 4 post allogeneic transplant. This drug will be administered intravenously (i.e. into the vein) over 1 hour. Participants will be followed up at 100 days, 1 year, and 2 years post transplant in order to determine rates of graft-versus-host disease. This will be compared to data collected previously in patients who received transplants using Reduced Intensity Condition (RIC) therapy and unrelated donors to determine relative effectiveness.

Age-related muscle wasting and a decline in cognitive function have both been implicated in the development and progression of many chronic diseases, including falls and dementia. Over the next 40 years it is estimated that nearly 25% of the Australian population will be aged over 65 years, and thus there is an urgent need to identify safe and effective strategies that can simultaneously optimise muscle and cognitive health and function in the elderly. Progressive resistance training is recommended as one approach that can improve muscle health in older adults, but there is a growing body of evidence indicating that the benefits of progressive resistance training may be dependent on adequate dietary protein. It has also been suggested that certain dietary factors, including dietary protein and vitamin D, along with exercise may improve cognitive health and function. Thus, this study aims to investigate whether lean red meat consumption three days per week when combined with progressive resistance training, can enhance both muscle and cognitive health and function in the elderly. We believe that the findings from this study will form the basis for more precise nutrition and exercise guidelines for the management and prevention of age-related changes in muscle health as well as cognitive and memory function in older people.

Crime and substance use harms are not distributed equitably among young people but are concentrated in a relatively small proportion of high-risk young people. That these harms are disproportionately high among Indigenous Australians has been well documented: they are 3-5 times more likely than non-Indigenous Australians to be hospitalised for mental/ behavioural disorders from cannabis and multiple drug use; tobacco-related diseases are up to 24 times more prevalent ; and all-cause alcohol-related disease and injury is twice as prevalent for Indigenous males and seven times greater for Indigenous females. Young Indigenous Australians are particularly vulnerable: rates of alcohol-related suicide among 15-29 year old Indigenous Australians are four (males) and five (females) times higher than for non-Indigenous Australians; and more than 50% of 10-17 year old juvenile detainees are Indigenous, despite Aboriginal Australians comprising only an estimated 2% of the population. Recent data suggest that attempting to engage with Indigenous Australians in the first half of their teenage years may be most effective: harmful levels of alcohol consumption in the previous month was reported by 69% of 18-25 year olds and 20% of 12-15 year olds, indicating a rapid up-scaling of harmful drinking over a relatively short-time period. Survey participants identified multiple risk factors (primarily family issues, a lack of social activity and a preference for spirits), suggesting a multi-component intervention that simultaneously addresses multiple issues would be promising. Systematic reviews of the Indigenous literature have identified three critical limitations: there have been few evaluations of interventions to reduce substance use among young Indigenous Australians; those that do exist are one dimensional; and there have been no economic evaluations. The aim of this study is to quantify the benefits of a multi-component intervention for high risk young people, with a focus on Indigenous young people.

After completing the online managing stress course and OST children will be skilled in mastering irrational fears and will have improved mental health and wellbeing. They will be better equipped to confront difficult situations in school and in play. Evidence strongly points to the prevention of the onset of anxiety and depressive disorders in adults through the treatment of fears in children (Kessler et al., 2011). The rationale for this study is to demonstrate the efficacy of identifying children in primary school with specific phobia and using early intervention (OST) to reduce the risk of anxiety and depressive disorders later in adolescence and adulthood. The main hypothesis is: Participants who were randomised and attended the OST will have reduced fears (lower BAT scores) after treatment compared to the waitlist control group.

BACKGROUND: Metal ion release from metal implants through the processes of mechanical wear and corrosion has been one of the main concerns post total joint arthroplasty. However, there have been very few studies to show metal ion exposure post total knee implants. AIM: The aim of this study was to investigate whether blood metal ion levels are raised in patients with well-functioning unilateral primary total knee arthroplasty one year after surgery. METHODS: Whole blood Chromium and serum Cobalt levels were measured in 22 patients following primary total knee arthroplasty. Eleven patients had the cemented triathlon knee system and 11 patients had uncemented ACS knee system with multilayer coatings. RESULTS: Whole bloods Chromium and serum Cobalt levels were within the normal range. CONCLUSION: On the basis of our results, there does not appear to be any significant rise in blood metal ion levels following well-functioning total knee arthroplasty in one-year post surgery.

Allergic rhinitis (AR), or hayfever, is an allergic condition which is associated with inflammation of the lining of the nasal passages. It is associated with significant morbidity for a substantial proportion of children. International guidelines recommend intranasal corticosteroids (INCS) as first line treatment for persistent or moderate to severe intermittent allergic rhinitis. From a child’s point of view, nasal steroids may be associated with an unpleasant sensation without an obvious benefit. This study will compare fluticasone and budesonide inhaled corticosteroid in terms of taste, sensation, delivery and adherence in children aged 6-14 years. Patients will be recruited from outpatient clinics at the Mater Children’s Hospital. All participants will be required to provide informed written consent. There are two parts to this study. The first part will see the sensory attributes and device preference. A random number generator will be used to randomly allocate the order in which Budesonide or Fluticasone are taken. The subject will spray Medication 1 into their nose as per the instructions provided and then complete Questionnaire for Medication 1. The subject will be instructed to have a sip of water, eat a biscuit, smell a swatch of wool and wait 20 minutes before taking Medication 2 and then completing Questionnaire for medication 2. The second part of the study will see short term adherence. If the subject is willing to participate in Part 2 they will be asked to use Medication 1, for 4 weeks as part of the treatment for their allergic rhinitis. At the end of 4 weeks they will be asked to complete Questionnaire after 4 weeks of Medication 1 and send it and the Medication 1 bottle back to the investigators. The bottle will be weighed to estimate the amount of medication used. The primary outcome measure of the study is overall preference of Medication 1 or 2.

OVERALL AIM: This randomised controlled trial is aiming to establish if women who take the oral contraceptive pill (OCP) have a lower risk of getting bacterial vaginosis back again (called BV relapse or recurrence) after routine recommended antibiotic treatment. OTHER AIMs: we also aim to determine the mechanisms, or reasons, as to how using the OCP may be reducing women’s risk of getting BV back again. This will involve exploring the effects of oral contraception on healthy vaginal bacteria and BV-associated bacteria, and the effects on natural vaginal sugars and acids and immune markers. BACKGROUND AND SIGNIFICANCE: Bacterial vaginosis is the commonest causes of abnormal vaginal discharge in women of reproductive age affecting between 12-30% of women, suggesting it may currently affect at least 1 million Australian women. It can be associated with important complications such as miscarriage, premature birth and low birth weight, pelvic infection, and increased susceptibility to HIV and sexually transmitted infections (STIs). We have shown that BV relapse is common even after recommended treatment. However, we have found in two studies that women using combined (oestrogen & progesterone containing) hormonal contraception appeared to have half the risk of BV recurrence following recommended antibiotics compared to women not taking the pill. We further confirmed this finding by meta-analysis of published literature in which we showed that in 55 studies, women using hormonal contraception had a reduced risk of BV recurrence. However, no randomised controlled trials have been conducted and how hormonal contraception reduces a women’s risk of BV is unknown. We hypothesise that this could be happening via different mechanisms/actions such as increasing the levels of natural vaginal acids and by altering the vaginal immune response which may cause normally occurring “healthy” vaginal bacteria to increase and for less healthy BV-associated bacteria to decrease. HOW WILL WE DO THIS: This is a trial of 314 women who have been diagnosed with BV and prescribed the standard antibiotic treatment. Half of the participants (157 women) will be randomised to the oral contraceptive pill for 6 months, and the other half to no OCP for 6 months. We anticipate that those who take the pill will have a reduced risk of getting BV back again but this remains to be proven in this trial.

Commencing in 2013, the Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists (ANZCA) implemented the Direct Observation of Procedural Skills (DOPS) form as part of the new curriculum that uses workplace based assessments (WBA) as an integral part of trainee assessment. DOPS is a generic tool using a 10-item, 9-point Likert scale scoring system for all procedural skills performed in anaesthesia. A vital aspect of confidence in the results generated by any assessment tool is the concept of reliability, which refers to the reproducibility of a test. This implies that a broad range of assessors, when viewing the same trainee performing a regional anaesthesia block, comes to a similar result. Components which improve reliability of an assessment tool include objective criteria for assessment, training of the assessors, direct observation at the moment of performance (rather than retrospective), and ability of the tool to discriminate between different levels of performance. As there is no published literature on the ANZCA DOPS reliability, we are performing this study to collect the consistency of scoring. The results will generate baseline data to inform future studies, such as whether training can improve reliability. This research project will recruit ANZCA Fellows and ask them to view 2 videos of regional anaesthesia block performance. The videos are scripted, and the trainee, anaesthetic assistant, and patient are roleplayed. Participants will view each video and score on the DOPS form. The results from all participants are analysed to estimate the degree of consistency by using measures of correlation.

This study aims to compare the efficacy and costs of implementing two interventions to reduce peer victimisation among children in grades 4 and 5, through schools in Australia. One intervention, Friendly Schools Plus addresses the entire school and aims to create a more positive school environment and greater recognition of victimisation. The other intervention, Cool Kids is targeted directly to children who are more anxious and experience current victimisation, and teaches them skills to empower them to better manage their relationships. The project aims to evaluate the impact on peer victimisation, children's mental health and overall costs and benefits associated with each program alone as well as their combination.