ANZCTR search results

Young children with autism vary greatly in their social and communication skills, from non-verbal and difficult to engage, to using sentences and showing some interest in other people. For those children who are non-verbal and difficult to engage, there is minimal evidence to determine which interventions will successfully foster the social and communication development of these young children. Music therapists are trained to use music (which is by nature a non-verbal medium) to motivate, evoke and elicit responses and interactions from children with social and communication impairments such as autism. While the use of music therapy with children who have social and communication impairments has been widely described, the evidence has primarily taken the form of case studies. Within the Early Childhood sector generally, there is increasing awareness of the importance of a strong parent-child relationship in the successful development of early social and communication skills in both typically developing children and children with autism. Interventions that involve the parent and support the parent-child relationship have reported significant gains in the social and communication skills of children with autism. This project aims to determine to what degree the early social and communication skills of children with autism aged between 3 and 5 years are effected by participating in music therapy sessions with their parent (primary carer).

The purpose of the study is to identify, and quantify, the expression of fatty acid sensing molecules, including CD36, GPR119, GPR120 and GPR40, in human duodenal biopsies.

The study will look at whether Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) is effective in helping individuals deal with food cravings.

investigators decided to decline the sponsorship offer.

Aim: This study aims to test the effectiveness of a childhood obesity prevention intervention delivered to first-time parents and focused on parenting skills which support the development of positive diet and Physical Activity (PA) behaviours, and reduced Sedentary Behaviours (SB) in infants. Hypotheses: In comparison to the control group infants, over the course of the intervention, the intervention group infants will: 1. Demonstrate greater increases in consumption of fruits and vegetables, and smaller increases in consumption of cordials, soft-drinks and juices and energy-dense snack foods 2. Demonstrate greater increases in time spent being physically active and smaller increases in time spent in sedentary behaviours, specifically Television (TV) viewing 3. Exhibit reduced incremental Body Mass Index (BMI) gain In comparison to the control group parents, the intervention group parents will demonstrate greater increases in: 4. The frequency with which they offer fruit and vegetables, water and milk (rather than cordials, soft-drinks and juices), and smaller increases in the frequency with which they offer energy-dense snack foods to their child 5. Knowledge regarding infant eating, physical activity and sedentary behaviours and greater development of positive attitudes/beliefs regarding their capacity to influence these behaviours 6. The adoption of desired feeding strategies, including the division of responsibility in feeding and in providing opportunities for modelling of healthy eating 7. The adoption of strategies, including modelling, for increasing opportunities for physical activity and reducing opportunities for sedentary behaviours

19 clinicians within an AOD service on the Central Coast of New South Wales, Australia, will be recruited to the trial. Consenting clinicians will participate in a baseline focus group discussion designed to explore their experiences and perceived barriers to adopting innovation in their clinical practice. Computer comfort and openness to innovation will also be assessed. Throughout the trial, current, new and wait-list clients will be referred to the research program via the clinical service, which will involve clients completing a baseline and 15-week follow-up clinical assessment with independent research assistants, comprising a range of mental health and AOD measures. Clinicians will also complete session checklists following each clinical session with a client, outlining the extent to which the SHADE computer program was used. Therapeutic alliance will be measured at intake and discharge from both the clinician and client perspectives. This study will provide comprehensive data on the factors associated with the adoption of an innovative, computer-delivered evidence-based treatment program, SHADE, by clinicians working in an AOD service. The results will contribute to the development of a model of dissemination of SHADE, which could be applied to a range of technological innovations.

There is abundant observational evidence that midazolam, a benzodiazepine drug used for sedation, use is associated with delirium in ICU patients. However, despite the availability of an equally effective alternative, benzodiazepines usage remains high. The most likely explanation for is that clinicians are not sufficiently convinced by the quality of the observational studies. This is a reasonable criticism, as it is unlikely that it was possible to adjust for all sources of indication bias in these studies. We hypothesise that introducing a clinical guideline for intubated patients in the Austin Hospital ICU that restricts midazolam use to patients with one of a select list of indications will a. reduce the use of midazolam and b. reduce the incidence of surrogate markers of delirium in ICU patients, without c. significantly increasing cost of sedative medications in the ICU.

Infection after c/section is a concern for women and health workers. Prophylactic antibiotics are used to prevent infection but some will still develop the complication. betadine is routinely used for skin preparation prior to c/section. It is believed that its use again immediately prior to skin closure may further reduce the infection rate. This is an open randomsied controlled trial. Hospital infection control dept routinely make contact with all c/section women. This source will be used to gather information on women who develop any problem with ht ewound. They routinely provide consent to be contacted for this purpose and therefore no additional consent will be required .

This pilot study will investigate quality of life issues related to having brain cancer, other cancers which spread to the brain or advanced cancer of other types; where the person is required to take regular dexamethasone (a corticosteroid) for disease management and/or chemotherapy. The study will enable us to follow how patients are doing during their treatment for cancer by looking at the severity and frequency of side effects that occur with dexamethasone, in particular by using a new instrument which assist patients and their caregivers to tell us about the possible side effects they might be experiencing in relation to dexamethasone treatment and their severity. The study will also look at factors that might help us decide how to improve the management of dexamethasone use.