ANZCTR search results

An observational pilot study to assess the burden of subclinical gout during an acute attack and during an intercritical period through asssessment of ultrasound detected synocial hypertrophy and urine hyaluronan

Patients from Royal Perth hospital with gout of the knee will be asked to have some blood tests, an ultrasound examination of their knee and fluid withdrawn from the knee to look for evidence of kallikren kinin proteins involved in inflammation.

The purpose of this study is to determine whether literacy instruction using the ABRACADABRA (ABRA) program 30 minutes per day, 4 days per week for one Semester improves student literacy in the Northern Territory (NT) moreso than traditional literacy instruction. ABRACADABRA (ABRA) is an online web-based early literacy program designed by Concordia University in Canada according to best practices in literacy instruction. The study tests the hypothesis that students who receive ABRA instruction will have higher scores than students who do not receive ABRA instruction on two measures of foundational skills for future reading: 1) phonemic awareness (recognition of the sounds in the English language) and individual word reading.

Patients from Royal Perth hospital with osteoarthritis of the knee will be asked to have some blood tests, an ultrasound examination of their knee and fluid withdrawn from the knee to look for evidence of kallikren kinin proteins involved in inflammation.

The primary purpose of this study is determine the best method for transporting respiratory specimens for viral studies from remote Indigenous communities. The study will enable planning for respiratory illness surveillance and interventions in remote areas. The primary hypothesis is that there is no difference in the proportion of respiratory viruses detected in nasal swabs collected from children and adults in the community that have been frozen immediately compared to specimens that have been sent via routine post.

The purpose of the study is to determine if an intra-gastric balloon in combination with a lifestyle program has a benefit for obese adolescents, compared to a lifestyle program alone.

Shift workers have been found to be at increased risk of insomnias, chronic fatigue, anxiety and depression, cardiovascular and gastrointestinal problems. Several well controlled epidemiological studies suggest that exposure to shift work is associated with increased health problems compared with working normal daytime hours and is an independent predictor of increased body mass index and obesity prevalence. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of a workplace-based weight-loss program developed specifically for overweight and obese male shift workers.

This study is being conducted to see the effects of various coffee beverages on cognitive function, brain activity and mood in healthy older adults. The study will compare the effect of different types of instant coffee beverages. We will measure brain activity and performance on different cognitive and computer tasks before and after four different coffee beverages.

The study firstly aims to compare the effectiveness of laser acupuncture to sham laser acupuncture in people suffering from chronic knee pain. Secondly, the study aims to compare laser acupuncture to needle acupuncture in people suffering from chronic knee pain. And thirdly, the study aims to compare laser acupuncture, sham laser acupuncture and needle acupuncture to no treatment for chronic knee pain. The study hypothesis is that laser acupuncture will be more effective than sham laser acupuncture or no treatment and will be equal or more effective than needle acupuncture in treating people suffering from chronic knee pain.

Dental decay has been described as the most common disease of childhood that is not self-limiting or responsive to short-term pharmacological management. Regrettably, Australian Aboriginal children have, on average, twice as many teeth affected by decay as other Australian children. The disease is a particular burden for pre-school children who do not routinely have access to dental care provided by the state/territory programs. The goal of this project is to develop, implement and evaluate the effectiveness of a community-oriented, primary health care intervention to prevent dental decay among pre-school children in Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory. The cluster randomized design provides a practical approach to the problem of small numbers of children living in remote communities. The results obtained from this research proposal would make an important contribution to the health care of Australian Aboriginal children and other disadvantaged children throughout the world.