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This research project intends to assess the effects of mental and physical stimulation on participants with Huntington's disease, an inherited, degenerative brain disorder. The effect of the intervention will be assessed by measuring brain function and volume, and other indicators of the disease such as balance capability, body composition and biochemical markers to determine the ability of environmental enrichment to delay the progression of the disease, thereby impacting the quality of life for patients with Huntington's disease. Carers will also be recruited where possible to assist with patient participation and compliance, and to complete quality of life questionnaires regarding the participants. Carers may also undertake the exercise regimen and may act as a control group for select exercise-related tests (voluntary).

Lobectomy (or removal of one of the lobes of the lung) is the standard operation for lung cancer that is amenable to surgery. For patients with insufficient breathing reserve, a sublobar resection (segmentectomy or wedge resection) can be offered as it involves the removal of much less lung. The question that surgeons do not know the answer to is how much lung needs to be removed to completely clear around a small lung cancer at the edge of the lung. It may or may not require the removal of the whole lobe, and this study will determine whether a sublobar resection is as good at controlling the cancer as a lobectomy. This is similar to studies in breast cancer that showed that the whole breast did bot have to be removed to control a small breast cancer.

The purpose of this study is to identify an efficacious outpatient treatment for adolescents with anorexia nervosa. Evidence suggests that family-based treatment (FBT) is efficacious. However, FBT is not helpful for all families as it can be complex and requires all family members to be involved. Therefore, this project will examine whether another form of FBT, called Parent-focused Treatment, is a feasible alternative to standard FBT. To do this we will compare the outcomes for families who take part in standard FBT to those of families who take part in Parent-focused Treatment (PFT).

Eczema is a skin condition which affects the lives of many children and their families. Skin infections are common in people with eczema and can often make the eczema worse. The skin of people with eczema often contains high numbers of bacteria called Staphylococcus aureus. Lots of eczema treatments have been developed to reduce Staphylococcus aureus however it is not clear how well these treatments work. Household bleach has been safely used for many years to help treat infected wounds after surgery. Recently it has been recommended for people with eczema to help reduce Staphylococcus aureus. Although it is being recommended for people with eczema there is little long-term evidence to show if household bleach is effective in improving eczema. We want to see if there is an improvement in eczema in children who add a small amount of bleach solution to their bath. We will compare them to a group of children who add bath oil to their bath. The results of this project may influence the care of eczema in the future. We hope 74 children who have moderate to severe eczema will take part in this project. Thirty-seven children will be asked to add a small amount of bleach solution to their bath and the other 37 children will be asked to add bath oil to their bath. The project will run for 6 months. The project will measure the severity of eczema before and after using the bleach solution or bath oil.

The aim of the current study was to evaluate the efficacy of an online intervention for socially disadvantaged children and adolescents with a chronic respiratory illness, to improve health-related outcomes, including psychological and social well-being. This is the first time an Australian sample has been used. Problem-solving paradigm was used, because children and adolescents with a chronic health condition often engage in risky behaviours due to poor problem-solving skills. Our aim is to provide them with a better way to solve problems relating to their condition and further expanding to other areas of their lives.

Background There are thousands of Australians who live without a spleen (asplenia) or have a poorly functioning one (hyposplenia). These people are at a significantly increased risk of life-threatening infections (sepsis).The spleen’s main function is to remove bacteria (bugs) from the blood and therefore plays a very important role in the body’s immune system. The most common bacteria that causes problems for people without or with poorly functioning spleens is the pneumococcus bacteria. Asplenic/hyposplenic patients are more than 200 times more likely to develop pneumococcal sepsis than those with normal spleen function. The mortality rate from pneumococcal sepsis for patients without functioning spleens is extremely high at 40-70%. Even if patients do survive they can be left with severe impairment (morbidity). It is well known that this increased risk of acquiring severe sepsis is a lifelong risk with the majority of life-threatening episodes of infection occurring more than 10 years after spleen removal. Patients that take antibiotics every day have been shown to have some protection against pneumococcal sepsis. Asplenic/hyposplenic patients are also routinely vaccinated against pneumococcus in an attempt to reduce morbidity and mortality. It is currently not very clear to medical practitioners what the optimal vaccine regimes are to protect this group of patients against pneumococcus, either initially, or for repeat immunisations later in life. Newer pneumococcal vaccines have proven safe and effective in reducing pneumococcal sepsis in young children and may also offer promise for asplenic/hyposplenic older children and adults in addition to the existing pneumococcal vaccine. 2. What is the purpose of this study? This study aims to identify the best way to immunise children and adults, who either do not have a spleen or have a poorly functioning one, against pneumococcal disease. There are three main ways to prevent getting bacterial infections in people like you. These are (i) taking antibiotics every day and/or having an emergency supply of antibiotics, (ii) immunisations and (iii) education. However sometimes patients, despite following the recommendations, get pneumococcal infections. Many pneumococcal vaccine research studies in the past have not included people without spleens or poorly functioning ones, so little is known about how these patients respond to the well known vaccinations. There are some new pneumococcal vaccines that have been shown to work better in young children than the older type vaccines. The study team is particularly interested in finding out if these newer vaccines might, in addition to using the routine vaccines, provide better antibody levels to protect against pneumococcal disease and will give the researchers information on when is the best time to administer the new vaccine, This vaccine study will not only target older children and adults who have not had any previous doses of pneumococcal vaccines but it will also include those who may have had at least one pneumococcal vaccine and or those who will require further “booster” doses of vaccine. 3. How many people are involved in this study? This study will be conducted in three sites in Melbourne (the Royal Children’s Hospital, Monash Medical Centre and The Alfred hospital) and a further site in Sydney (Prince of Wales Hospital). A total of 220 people will be invited to participate, 110 participants who have previously received the routinely used pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine (PPV23) and 110 people who have not. Participants will be adults and children aged over 10 years who are asplenic/hyposplenic. 4. What type of research is this study? This is a study comparing different ways of immunising asplenic/hyposplenic children and adults to see which gives the highest and longer lasting levels of protective antibodies against pneumococcus. Children and adults with asplenia/hyposplenia will be randomly assigned (like flipping a coin) to one of two treatment groups based on whether or not they have previously received the PPV23 vaccine. This research study has been reviewed and approved by the Human Research Ethics Committee at each of the four hospital sites. It is the role of this committee to make sure that research participants are protected from harm.

This study aims to examine physiological effects of foods and beverages containing grape, olive leaf and seaweed extracts in 272 overweight and obese adults. The study will be a double-blind randomised controlled trial. Participants will consume the intervention or placebo for 16 weeks, followed by six month and 12 month reviews to monitor outcomes. The study will examine physiological effects including whether the products may result in a reduction in body weight and composition, blood pressure, cholesterol, waist circumference, appetite, and inflammation. This study will contribute significantly to the current body of knowledge of the physiological effects of these compounds, as no previous human trials have been conducted. Foods and nutrients that support and enhance metabolic pathways and reduce inflammation may provide significant alternative methods for weight loss for people with chronic disease.

Background: Bowel cancer is the most common cancer affecting both men and women. Survivors are at risk of cancer recurrence and a range of physical, emotional, psychological and practical consequences. Follow up inadequately addresses many issues. This study will evaluate an innovative program comprising individualised information, a nurse-led end of treatment consultation and telephone follow up for people with potentially curative bowel cancer, aiming to reduce psychological distress and unmet needs. Aim: To examine the effectiveness of an innovative supportive care program (SurvivorCare) comprising survivorship educational materials, provision of a tailored survivorship care plan, an individually tailored nurse-led end of treatment consultation and telephone follow up for people with potentially curative colorectal cancer, aiming to reduce psychological distress and unmet needs, using a randomised controlled trial.

This study will investigate the results of a new functional appliance which aims to correct skeletal 2 malocclusions. Currently, controversy exists on the efficacy of functional appliances at stimulating mandibular growth. This is because the tooth movements rather than changes in facial growth have found to be mostly responsible for the improvement seen in the dental arch relationships. This appliance will be attached to orthodontic miniscrew temporary anchorage devices aimed at achieving maximal skeletal correction of their malocclusion and minimising dentoalveolar effects.

This project aims to deepen our understanding of the causes of discomfort during contact lens wear. Participants will wear two types of contact lenses (lotrafilcon and comfilcon) for up to 10 days at a time.The project hypothesises that there is a link between the saltiness of peoples' tears, of their contact lenses and the presence of superficial damage to the portion of the upper eyelid that wipes over the contact lens and the sensation of discomfort during lens wear.