ANZCTR search results

A group randomised controlled trial of a parenting intervention aimed to improve parenting skills in ways that facilitate the development of emotional competence in children, and emotional communication in the family, thereby improving children's internalising and externalising difficulties.

The trial is being led by Professor Anthony Jorm from the School of Population Health, Population Mental Health Group at The University of Melbourne. One thousand families in Victoria are invited to participate, consisting of one parent and one teenager (aged between 12-15 years) per family. Parents will be randomly assigned to either a 14 hour Youth Mental Health First Aid course or a 15 hour Australian Red Cross Apply First Aid course. The study will assess whether parents who are trained in physical or mental health first aid respond differently to teenagers who develop physical or mental health problems. Telephone surveys will be conducted on both the parent and teenager before the parent can attend their free training course. Parents will be asked about their knowledge about mental and physical first aid, confidence in supporting a teenager with a mental or physical health problem and self-reported supportive behaviours if their teenager or someone they know develops a mental or physical health problem and perceptions of their own mental health. Teenagers will be asked about their intentions to seek help and actual help-seeking from family and professionals for mental health problems depicted in vignettes, perceptions of support from the parent if the teenager develops a mental health problem and perceptions of their own mental health and general social support from the parent. Both telephone surveys will ask about stigmatizing attitudes toward mental illness. One year after the initial telephone survey, parents and teenagers will be asked to complete another telephone survey. This will continue on an annual basis, for possibly up to ten years, subject to funding being available. The project has received ethics approval (ID: 1135679) and is funded by a National Health and Medical Research Council Australia Fellowship.

This research project is aiming to determine the effects of green tea and combinations of potential active components of green tea (caffeine and catechins) on cognitive function and mood. This project will assess the effectiveness of green tea extract and different fractions of green tea extract on cognitive function (primarily attention) and mood measures. The plasma levels of several potential active constituents of green tea will also be monitored. Subjects will be required to attend five testing sessions (and one practice session). Subjects will take one intervention (administered in capsule format) at each session. 1. Whole green tea extract standardised with regard to caffeine and catechins (‘GTE’). Extract to deliver 40 mg caffeine per dose. 2. 40 mg synthetic caffeine (‘caffeine’) 3. Decaffeinated green tea extract (‘Decaff-GTE’) standardised with regard to catechins 4. Catechins alone i.e. without any other components of green tea extract (‘catechins’) 5. Placebo

We propose to examine the effects of regular Naltrexone dosing as an off-label treatment for problem gamblers. We plan to examine the neural activation when we present gambling stimuli, are asked to make self-controlled or impulsive hypothetical choices and when subjects have to inhibit a learned response. Participants will be tested pre and post treatment and correlate these responses with the urge to gamble and self-reported gambling behaviour. By examining these relationships, specifically the change in neurological functioning, we hope to find the neural correlates to measures of problem gambling. Investigating these issues will assist in the analysis of a putative common neurological basis between gambling and alcoholism and hopefully advance both treatments

The aim of this research is to: 1. Investigate the effects of adding a Brief Behavioural Activation Programme to the STEPS (Self-Training Educative Pain Sessions) and PUMP (Pain Understanding and Management Programme) programmes for patients with chronic pain. 2. Investigate the effects of adding a Brief Behavioural Activation Programme to the STEPS and PUMP programme on patients’ adherence to their own particular treatment instructions. 3. Identifying the effects of STEPS and PUMP programmes in combination. It is hoped that this research will provide an opportunity to work collaboratively with patients with the ultimate aim of establishing improved self-management strategies for patients coping with pain.

The primary purpose of this study is to determine the efficacy of intranasal remifentanil for improving intubating conditions in neonates requiring the INSURE procedure as part of their medical care. Usual pain management (comfort/environmental measures and age/weight-appropriate sucrose) will be provided to all neonates.

The primary purpose of this study is to determine the efficacy of remifentanil infusion for alleviating pain in neonates requiring insertion of central venous lines for their medical care.

This study will identify whether promotiong the NHMRC safe drinking guidelines for children - not drinking before the age of 18 - has an impact on the uptake an overall alcohol consumption levels of children. Relative to the 14 control communities the adolescent children (age 11 to 17) in the 14 communities that have been randomly assigned to participate in the intervention process will demonstrate an average 15% greater decrease (relative to controls) in the prevalence of alcohol use.

Tendons and Tendinopathy Tendons are the tough fibrous bands of tissue that connect our muscles to bony prominences on the human skeleton. They are extremely strong and allow muscles to work to allow movement and stability of the human body. Tendinopathy is degeneration of healthy tendons and is sometimes called tendonitis or tendinosis. It is usually caused by microtears within the tendon and a decrease in tendon repair cells. GTPS and Gluteal tendinopathy Greater trochanteric pain syndrome (GTPS) is a common condition that typically affects females in the 40-60 year age bracket. Patients complain of pain felt over the outer aspect of the hip. The condition was previously labelled trochanteric bursitis however modern imaging techniques and better understanding has revealed that a common cause of GTPS is tendinopathy or tears of the gluteal tendons around the hip. The reported incidence is 1.8 patients per 1000 per year. Current treatments Currently, initial treatments centre around non-steroidal anti-inflamatory drugs, physical therapy and weight loss. The next stage of treatment is often corticosteroid injections into the gluteal bursa. These may be targeted under xray control, or blind. Steroid injections often give short term relief of symptoms, for 6 to 12 weeks but relapse of symptoms is common. At present, common treatment methods have proven relatively ineffective. Tendinopathy Tendinopathy is also common in other areas of the body such as the achilles tendon, patella tendon, rotator cuff and tendons around the elbow that give rise to tennis elbow. Studies have shown that the process in these diseased tendons is similar. There are micro-tears in and around the tendon that lead to a decrease in tendon repair cells. Given that examination of tendinopathic tendons has revealed cell death there has been recent interest in developing cell technology to potentially aid repair and regeneration. The precursors to tendon cells can be harvested from normal tendons and grown in a laboratory. They can then be injected into diseased tendons. Preliminary animal studies have shown that this treatment can improve tendon remodelling, collagen content and tensile strength. Clinical pilot trials in human tendons for lateral epicondylitis (tennis elbow) have demonstrated safety and efficacy of the techninque, as well improved clinical and radiological outcomes. At present, there is a clinical trial being conducted into the injection of autologous tenocytes for achilles tendinopathy. (http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01343836) ATI therapy Autologous tenocyte implantation (ATI) is a new tissue engineering technique that involves an initial biopsy of healthy tendon cells. This is usually taken from the patella tendon. A very small piece of tendon is taken with a needle and then the cells within are cultured and grown over a period of 5-6 weeks in the Orthocell laboratory. The cells are then injected back into the injured tendon under ultrasound guidance. This delivers around 2 million tenocyte cells directly to the area of degenerate tendon. Given the promising work in animal studies and clinical studies in human tendons, we propose a pilot study to investigate the use of ATI in gluteal tendinopathy.

Physical Activity 4 Every1 (PA4E1) is a multi-component physical activity intervention implemented in secondary schools in low-income communities over two years, which aims to prevent the decline in moderate-to-vigorous (MVPA) physical activity among students. The study will be the first Australian study in disadvantaged schools with objectively measured outcome data over an extended follow up period.