ANZCTR search results

Multicentre randomised double-blinded sham-lesion control trial to evaluate the role and effectiveness of pulsed radiofrequency treatment (PRF) of a peripheral nociceptive trigger (i.e. neuroma) in the management of phantom and residual limb pain. Participants will be recruited through the Victorian Artificial Limb Program Outpatient Clinic at Royal Park Campus RMH. Eligible patients will undergo perineuromal injections with local anaesthetic performed under ultrasound. Responses will be recorded as positive if the participant experiences a decrease in pain intensity of at least 50%. Patients with a positive response will proceed to PRF or placebo assigned in a random manner. Participants will be followed up at 1 week, 4 weeks and 3 months. Measures of pain intensity (BPI), pain quality (SF MacGill Pain Questionaire), physical functioning (BPI), emotional functioning (DASS), patients global rating of improvement and satisfaction (PGIC), health-related quality of life, prosthetic use (TAPES-R), healthcare utilisation will be obtained at each review.

Weight loss following gastric band surgery, defined as % excess weight loss (poor - <20%, moderate 20-45% or good >45%), will be correlated to rates of progression from impaired fasting glucose to diabetes. These rates will be compared to those of AusDiab participants from a similar time period.

Participants will be randomised to one of the two conditions and prescribed the same diet which they will be asked to follow for a 24-week period. The primary purpose of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of different mobile phone applications designed to support people to lose weight by undertaking a Meal Replacement Program over a 24-week period

We will test a new approach to a form of heart failure (HF) with no current treatment proven to reduce death rates or hospitalisations. Over a third of HF cases have preserved ejection fraction (HFPEF) often on a background of high blood pressure (BP). These “stiff” hearts pump strongly but fill inefficiently resulting in poor exercise capacity and high death rates. Treatments that help when heart pumping action is poor are of no benefit in HFPEF. Recently a simple catheter procedure removing excess nerve signals to and from the kidneys (“renal denervation”; RDN) has been able to reduce BP in patients with high BP resistant to multi-drug treatment. Through removing excess nervous drive to the kidneys, heart and circulation this treatment has promise in HF. We will compare effects of RDN and standard medical treatment on heart function, exercise capacity and quality of life in 144 patients with HFPEF.

Clinical study aiming to assess how the pharmacokinetics (i.e. the way the body absorbs, distributes and gets rid of a drug), safety, and tolerability of the drug siponimod are influenced by the presence of specific genetic characteristics (namely CYP2C9 genotypes).

The adoption of healthy school canteen policies has been recommended as a strategy to prevent excessive weight gain. A number of jurisdictions in Australia and internationally have policies requiring school adoption of healthy canteen strategies. Despite this, many schools have not adopted healthy canteen practices consistent with mandated policies. One reason why many schools are yet to adopt healthy canteen policy is that current interventions aiming to improve practice cannot feasibility be extended to large numbers of schools, in particular to those in rural and remote communities. A promising solution to support population wide practice change of school canteens is audit and feedback. However, currently no evaluation of audit and feedback has been conducted in this setting. The aim of this research is to assess the effectiveness of an audit and feedback intervention to increase the adoption of canteen practices consistent with the mandatory NSW government healthy canteen policy (‘Fresh Tastes @ School’). Seventy-two primary schools that provide canteen services to students will be recruited to participate. Schools will be randomised to an intervention group receiving a 12 month audit and feedback intervention delivered via telephone and written report, or a no intervention comparison group. The effectiveness of the intervention will be determined by comparing post intervention differences between canteen menus audited by Dieticians in: i) the proportion of schools with a canteen menu containing foods or beverages restricted (‘red’ items) under the policy and; ii) the proportion of schools where healthy canteen items (‘green’) represent the majority (>50%) of products listed on the menu as recommended by the policy. The proposed research is the first evaluation of an audit and feedback intervention in primary schools. The study is of relevance to the efficient delivery of population wide services, particularly to those in rural and remote communities, aiming to reduce the burden of obesity.

The study is evaluating the effectiveness of structured interventions to improve quality of life in head and neck cancer survivors. Who is it for? You may be eligible to join this study if you are aged 18 years or more, and have a diagnosis of head and neck cancer for which you have completed treatment within the past month at one of the participating sites. Trial details: Participants in this trial are randomly (by chance) allocated to one of three groups. Participants in group 1 will receive a written resource, “Facing the future: Living with confidence after treatment for head and neck cancer” in addition to usual care. The 61 page publication was developed by a number of health professionals involved in the treatment of people with head and neck cancer, and contains detailed information and recommendations about coping with issues such as diet and swallowing problems, oral health, fatigue, pain, stress, emotional concerns and communication. Participants in Group 2 will continue to receive usual care and the resource “Facing the future: Living with confidence after treatment for head and neck cancer”. In addition they will meet with an oncology nurse who has undergone specific training in developing a tailored survivorship care plan. The face-to-face meeting will take between 30 and 60 minutes and will focus on issues which are of concern to the patient. For example the care plan might include a graded approach to improving fatigue, or a plan about how to get into a routine to manage oral health. It might include details about how to cope with social interactions and relationship concerns, or fear of eating in public. The care plan will be designed to not just list information – it will be designed to enable participants to work out how to feel more in control of their health, deal with anxiety and give them confidence about when and how to get professional advice as needed. Once the survivorship care plan is complete the patient will receive a written copy so that they can keep working on the issues in it. A copy will also be sent to their General Practitioner so that the GP is familiar with the issues the patient is working on and can provide ongoing assistance as necessary. Participants in Group 3 will continue to receive only the standard care provided at the clinic where they received treatment. Participants will be asked to complete some questionnaires at the start of the study, and 3 and 6 months later in order to assess their quality of life. Feasibility and cost-effectiveness of the two interventions will also be assessed.

Study is designed to evaluate and examine pain levels, mechanical force and peak pressure in natural, reconstructed and augmented breast tissue with and without a new orthosis designed for reduction of displacement, compression and loading forces through the breast tissue during prone activities.

Obese individuals are known to suffer from significant cognitive deficits, especially in the area of executive function, leading to poor planning, impulse control and decision making deficits. Research in this field has identified a point at which an intervention could interrupt this vicious cycle. This project aims to examine the relationship between cognition and obesity through a randomized controlled trial (RCT) testing the efficacy of a novel cognitive remediation therapy (CRT) in obese individuals to reduce these deficits and aid weight loss maintenance

Research suggests that carrier proteins may unpredictably enhance or reduce immune response to the polysaccharide antigens; therefore administering dTpa before, with, or after MCV4 is an important matter with regard to immune response to vaccines. There are no data Adults on whether the receipt of dTpa before, after or concomitantly with MCV4 and PCV13 would enhance or suppress immune response. Therefore, we would like to explore further means in order to optimise immunity and maximise immunogenicity of these vaccines in Hajj or Umrah pilgrims. In addition to optimising the immunogenicity of the recommended vaccines, this study will also explore the pilgrims’ pre-travel health seeking behaviour and assess their Knowledge Perception and Attitude (KAP) towards the recommended vaccines.