ANZCTR search results

Falls are the most frequent adverse event reported in hospitals with over 30% of adverse events due to slips trips and falls. Recently we tested a falls prevention patient education program in a large randomised trial and found it was effective in reducing falls for patients with no cognitive problems. We now plan to test this education in 8 wards within the realtime clinical setting. The aims of the study are to evaluate the effect of providing patient education for cognitively intact older patients on the number of falls and also healthcare costs in aged care rehabilitation wards.

Etanercept, when given by injection overlying the spine, has been reported to be very beneficial for treatment of patients with moderate Alzheimer’s disease and is a beneficial treatment for other related forms of dementia in multiple published, peer-reviewed scientific studies. The primary aim of the study is to determine the safety and tolerability of perispinal injection of Etanercept in subjects with progressive dementia with a focus on Australian Alzheimer's sufferers.

The aims of this project are to determine: 1) If adults born small (Birth weight=1500-2500g) show normal aerobic capacity and skeletal muscle mitochondrial function in response to exercise training. 2) If the insulin sensitivity in adults born small is normal in response to exercise training. Method: Young (18-40 yrs) healthy male subjects (n=12/group) and those born small (Birth weight=1500-2500g) will be recruited and the peak pulmonary oxygen uptake (VO2 peak), a well-accepted measure of cardiorespiratory fitness, will be assessed. Seven days later, they will report to the laboratory after an overnight fast and provide a muscle biopsy sample for biochemical and molecular analysis. Insulin sensitivity will then be measured by infusing glucose into the arm via a catheter (a euglycemic, hyperinsulinemic clamp). At the end of the clamp, a second muscle biopsy sample will be obtained for assessment of insulin signalling activation. Subjects will then complete 4 weeks of exercise training that involves 60 min of exercise on a cycle ergometer per day for repeated blocks of 5 consecutive days, separated by a two days of rest. During the training the subjects will be performing cycling exercise for 1 hour for 4 days at 65% of their VO2 max. The subjects will be provided with an exercise bike to take home and they will perform the above mentioned exercise for 4 days at their home. The subjects will also be provided with a heart monitor to record their heart rate during exercise and monitor their activity levels.On the 5th day subjects will report to the laboratory, submit their heart monitors to the researchers and perform an interval training for 1 hour. At the end of the training the subjects will provide a post training VO2 peak test, leg muscle biopsies and another glucose infusion clamp will be performed to assess their response to training. Significance: Exercise can help normalise blood glucose levels in diabetics. However, it is not known if adults born small respond to exercise normally compared with control subjects. Further understanding of this response mechanism could lead to development of life style intervention/exercise training strategies to maximise the benefits of exercise in adults who were born small.

Lately, a new method for intraarticular hip injection has been increasingly considered, and is believed to be very accurate, eliminating the need for imaging assistance (which enables the surgeon to apply the treatment in an outpatient environment). This blind method of injection will be assessed by: 1. Injecting small amount of air into the hip prior to hip arthroscopy surgery in the operating theatre, in the same technique as it is performed on a regular basis, but via a different approach (anterior versus lateral) and initially with no image assistance. The location of the needle will then be assessed using fluoroscopy. 2. Injecting small amount of Methylene Blue into the hip prior to total hip replacement surgery, verifying its location and injection accuracy later during the same operation. Our hypothesis is that anterior hip injection technique, without imaging guidance, would yield high accuracy rates. Hip injections able to be performed without imaging will also lead to less expense for the patient and community with a reduction in burden on imaging services.

This trial will be looking at patients who have osteoarthritis of the knee. Such patients will be referred by their doctor for knee arthroscopy. These patients usually have mild-moderate osteoarthritis of the knee and will undergo arthroscopy to reduce their pain and improve function. At the moment, when the arthroscopy is performed, a certain fluid pressure is used. This trial will try using a lower pressure and compare it with the current standard. It is hypothesised that patients who get the lower pressure will have less pain, less bone marrow swelling and increased degree of function. These are the three areas the trial will be assessing and will be comparing this with patients who get the current standard pressure, 6 weeks after the arthroscopy.

This study aims to assess whether the side of the body that a central venous line is inserted affects the risk of developing a bloodstream infection in cancer patients. Who is it for? You may be eligible to join this study if you are a cancer patient aged 15 years or above, who needs to have a central venous access device (CVAD) inserted. Trial details Participants in this trial will be randomly (by chance) allocated to one of two groups. Participants in one group will have the CVAD inserted into their dominant arm (i.e. right arm in right-handed people and left arm in left-handed people). Participants in the other group will have the CVAD inserted into their non-dominant arm. There will be no other change to treatment provided. Participants will be monitored to determine the incidence of catheter-associated bloodstream infection (CA-BSI) and catheter-related bloodstream infection (CR-BSI). This will enable us to find out whether the increased movement of the dominant arm might increase the risk of infection.

A study to test the efficacy and safety of investigational therapy MK-8931 in the treatment of mild to moderate Alzheimer's Disease

The purpose of this study is to investigate whether nasal irrigation with a topical corticosteroid (mometasone) additive, is more beneficial in controlling the symptoms of chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) post-operatively, than the treatments currently used. Irrigation with with a solution that contains mometasone may provide better control of CRS symptoms, compared to the simple intranasal steroid sprays that are currently used in conjunction with salt water irrigation. Patients undergoing endoscopic sinus surgery as part of the management of their CRS are eligible to participate. Patients who choose to participate in the study will be randomly allocated to one of two treatment groups. This is a double-blinded trial, so neither the patient, nor the patient's treating surgeon will know which treatment group the patient has been allocated to.

This evaluation trial will evaluate a brief parent Lifestyle Triple P Seminar program for parents of overweight children aged 3 – 10 years of age in a randomised trial comparing the parenting intervention against care as usual. The CONSORT guidelines for randomised controlled trials will be utilised. The study is a 2 (Triple P vs case as usual) x 4 (time: pre-test, post-test, 6-month follow up, and 12-month follow up) design. The study will experimentally test the relative impact of Triple P against care as usual in improving both general and lifestyle-specific child and parenting outcomes. The trial is recruiting all over Brisbane and Ipswich suburbs.

This is a study aiming to evaluate whether metformin, an antidiabetic medication, can be used safety and effectively in patients with type 2 diabetes who are receiving peritoneal dialysis for their end stage kidney disease. The study runs over 4 weeks of active treatment, 250mg of metformin daily orally. We hypothesise that metformin can be safely used in patients with type 2 diabetes with end stage renal failure if dosed based on predicted drug clearance.