ANZCTR search results

It is believed that physiotherapists in Australia use the Bottle/Bubble PEP device to treat patients that have secretion clearance problems. It is unknown though to what extent it is used or the rationale behind its use. This questionnaire will assist in answering these questions at it will be sent to a representative sample of physiotherapists working in hospitals within Australia.

To compare the effects of adding rosuvastatin to switching of ritonavir-boosted protease inhibitor on total cholesterol levels in HIV-infected adults with increased cardiovascular risk profiles over a 12-week period.

The overall purpose of the final study is to undertake a randomised control trial to test the efficacy of an internet delivered physical activity intervention for individuals with Type II diabetes. The randomised control trial will consist of two groups, an intervention and control group. As previously described the intervention group will receive access to all aspects of the internet intervention, whereas, the control group will only be able to access a static web page containing links to external diabetes websites. Specifically, the following hypothesis will be tested: Hypothesis One: It is hypothesised that participants in both groups will report increases in physical activity behaviour, quality of life, physical activity intentions, subjective norms, attitudes and perceived behavioural control at 12 weeks; a) It is hypothesised that participants in the intervention group will report significantly greater improvements in physical activity behaviour than the control group; b) It is hypothesised that participants in the intervention group will report significantly greater improvements in their perception of quality of life than the control group; c) It is hypothesised that participants in the intervention group will report significantly greater improvements in physical activity intentions, subjective norms, attitudes and perceived behavioural control than the control group; Hypothesis Two: It is hypothesised that individuals in the intervention group will record significantly greater logins in comparison to the control group at the completion of the intervention period. The combined outcome will provide a better understanding of the effectiveness of internet delivered physical activity behaviour change programs for secondary prevention of chronic diseases. Secondary aims are to explore factors within internet delivered programs which influence website usage in terms of engagement.

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a common cause of visual loss in older people, and currently treatment options for dry AMD are limited. This study will investigate whether saffron supplements are an effective treatment for dry AMD.

There are no standard approaches to treat haematological malignancies that relapse after allogeneic HPCT. This trial aims to evaluate the safety and efficacy of treatment with the anti-viral drug, Peg-Interferon, in patients with relapsed haematological malignancy after allogeneic haematopoietic progenitor cell transplantation (HPCT). Who is it for? You may be eligible to join this study if you are aged between 18 and 65 years old. Trial details Patients will initially have their immunosuppression withdrawn, and in the presence of frank haematological relapse, also undertake FLAG induction chemotherapy as a platform to provide both short-term disease control as well as lymphodepletion. In the absence of development of subsequent GVHD, Peg-Interferon will commence at a dose of 45mcg subcutaneouly once per week, with weekly escalation of dose to 90mcg, then 135mcg then 180mcg if tolerated. Patients will then continue peg-IFN as “maintenance” at 180mcg weekly for a total of 6 months (calculated from first dose of peg-IFN) if able. If after achieving maximal doses of pegylated-IFN (180mcg/week) significant GVHD has not developed, depending on donor availability, patients will also be eligible to commence donor lymphocyte infusions (DLI) whilst continuing pegylated-IFN. This approach will (i) permit the use of chemotherapy without the induction of severe GVHD that is seen in the majority of patients that receive a second stem cell graft (ii) whilst permitting peg-IFN to be delivered to the majority of recipients and (iii) allowing DLI to be administered thereafter to poor responders. Participants will be assessed at 2 years following enrolment to determine how they responded to this treatment.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the efficacy of lithium as an adjunctive therapy to combined antiretroviral therapy in alleviating HIV associated neurocognitive impairment. We are also investigating whether lithium protects against brain changes that have also been observed in HIV associated neurocognitive impairment.

This study aims to determine whether adding the drug, Tocilizumab, to standard transplant immunosuppression is safe and effective at preventing acute graft versus host disease (GVHD). Who is it for? You may be eligible to join this study if you are aged between 18 and 65 years of age and are undertaking an HLA-matched allogeneic haematopoietic cell transplantation (HPCT). Trial details All participants in this trial will receive a single dose of 8mg/kg Tocilizumab by a 60 minute intravenous infusion (administered via the vein). This will occur one day before your HPCT. Participants will be assessed for up to 2 years to determine the incidence of GVHD.

In recent years there has been a national decline in smoking rates however, this reduction is least evident among the most disadvantaged sector of the Australian population. This is mainly attributable to lower levels of quit success among disadvantaged groups rather than differences in quit intentions or attempts. Recent research has shown that financial stress is a major barrier to sustained smoking cessation among socioeconomically disadvantaged smokers, even after controlling for nicotine addiction, psychological stress, and use of cessation counselling and pharmacotherapies. The aim of this project is to test an innovative approach to improving smoking cessation outcomes among low socioeconomic status (SES) smokers by providing financial counselling to reduce the financial stress experienced by disadvantaged smokers making quit attempts. This will be achieved by conducting a randomised controlled trial comparing cessation rates between low SES smokers who receive subsidised nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) with a Quitline call-back with those who receive subsidised NRT and Quitline call-back plus financial counselling. Smoking outcomes will be assessed at 2 and 6 months post-intervention. The results from this project will provide valuable information on the efficacy of targeted interventions for socioeconomically disadvantaged smokers.

All new patients presenting for hyperbaric oxygen therapy meeting the eligibility criteria will be randomized to either a Staged Compression Protocol (Trial regimen) or a Linear Compression Protocol (standard regimen) during their first hyperbaric chamber compression. Both protocols will achieve the treatment depth of 14 meters within 12-13 minutes. The Staged Protocol has a slightly faster compression rate (1.4 meters/min vs 1.1 meters/min) and has 2 holding stage with no pressure change to allow for patient to catch up with their ear equalization. The rate of compression and depth at the holding stages were choosen based on Boyle's Law calculation that middle ear volume will not change more than 30%. Photographs of the tympanic membranes will be taken pre and post the first session of hyperbaric oxygen therapy. The number of interrupted or aborted treatment and subjective pain score will also be recorded. The photographs will be assessed by a blinded experienced otolaryngologist for middle ear barotrauma grade. Primary outcome is incidence of middle ear barotrauma in staged versus linear protocols. Secondary outcomes are number of interrupted and aborted treatments and patient's comfort from the pain score. The hyperbaric doctors, hyperbaric nurses and the otolargyngologist assessor will all be blinded to protocol used. Only the chamber operator (who is not involved in the clinical management / assessment of the participants) will be aware of the protocol used. Sample size calculation require 50 participants per arm for a power of 80% to detect a difference. The department received on average 10 new patients per month and the research is anticipated to take one year.

This study aims to evaluate an online interactive decision aid for prostate cancer screening. Who is it for? You can join this study if you are a male aged 40-69 years who lives in Australia. You must have access to the internet and a reasonable command of the English language. Trial details Participants in this trial will complete an online decision aid for prostate cancer screening. This easy to use interactive decision aid asks men to rate the importance of factors that are relevant to making a high quality decision, and to weigh up the potential benefits (e.g. avoiding the potential loss of lifetime by early detection of prostate cancer) and harms (e.g. false positive test results and unnecessary treatments) of PSA testing for prostate cancer. Participants will be randomly (by chance) assigned to one of two groups. One group will complete the 'Fixed Attributes' version of the decision aid and the other group will complete the 'You Choose' version. The usefulness of the decision aid will be assessed via a series of questions asking the respondents to rate aspects of the quality of the decision about prostate cancer screening.