ANZCTR search results

More than half the people living in Australia do not exercise regularly, an issue even more acute for adults with cerebral palsy (CP). CP is a condition that affects motor control, skill, and coordination. There is an association between the severity of CP and the presence of additional health and psychosocial issues leading to greater complexity of the condition. People with complex CP have more difficulty achieving the recommended amounts of physical activity. Adults with complex CP have rarely been included in research, particularly studies relating to exercise. Most CP research has focused on children and young adolescents with less complex CP (i.e., those who are ambulant). It is often hard for people with disabilities to exercise because of difficulties accessing places where there are opportunities to be active. In addition, they might not have the right support. The FitSkills program was created to address this issue. FitSkills matches people with disabilities and health students (Nursing, Occupational Therapy, Exercise Science) to exercise together in a gym environment. Studies have shown that FitSkills can engage youth with disabilities in community-based exercise. With additional support, including screening, risk assessment, and additional professional support for the peer-mentor health student, FitSkills can be tailored for young people with complex disabilities. Our project examines how well FitSkills can be implemented in a real-world setting for adults with CP who use wheeled mobility (i.e., wheelchair, frames). In this study, we want to see if we can implement an intervention that has the potential to help younger adults with CP improve their health, well-being, and ability to participate in activities that are meaningful to them. So far, our work has reviewed the findings of existing research and has explored the experiences of adults with CP to learn more about what they want and need to exercise in their communities. From the adult’s perspective, it is important they can access the community and be seen by the community. Our next step is to test the feasibility of FitSkills. We aim to ensure it can be implemented and is practical and acceptable for adults with CP who use wheelchairs using elements of an evidence-based feasibility framework.

A retrospective clinical audit of patients admitted with rib fractures will provide a district wide summary of inpatient rib fracture management. This audit will assess patterns and outcomes of patients admitted with fractured ribs, and patterns in any complications the patients experienced. The audit has the potential to contribute to the body of evidence in the management of patients with fractured ribs. Pain management is a common priority when it comes to the management of patients with fractured ribs. Trends and patterns of analgesic use will provide insight into the current trends of pain management provided to patients with fractured ribs. Foreshadowing future complications from patients with fracture ribs will help refine the current management, pathways, and guidelines for rib fracture management.

Depression and insomnia are important and related public health problems for young people. The recommended treatment for insomnia is Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for insomnia (CBTI). CBTI programs are known to effectively reduce symptoms of depression without directly targeting non-sleep symptoms. However, the mechanisms which underlie the association between insomnia and depression are not well understood. Many candidate mechanisms have been proposed (e.g., cognitive biases), yet, there is a lack of research which investigates these possible mechanisms, and data from treatment studies is greatly needed to investigate the causal role of these mechanisms in the association between insomnia and depression. This randomised controlled trial aims to investigate what psychological mechanisms explain how digital cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia improves depression in young people. It is hypothesised that the group who receive the brief CBTI program will display greater improvement in symptoms of depression and insomnia, and a greater change in mechanisms thought to underlie the association between depression and insomnia symptoms, compared to the group that receive education (waitlist control).

This study is designed to evaluate the tolerability, safety, and pharmacodynamics of KER-012 in combination with current background therapy at a stable dose in participants with heart failure. Background therapy will be defined by the investigator as appropriate. HF background therapy treatments will be provided by the treating physician based on local treatment guidelines and must remain stable throughout the study. If a participant is observed to show disease progression requiring additional therapy, the participant should receive standard HF treatment following locally relevant guidelines. This study will enroll a total of 12-16 heart failure patients with either preserved or reduced ejection fractions for subcutaneous injections with KER-012 every 4 weeks. Heart Failure is associated with increased activin receptor type II signalling. KER-012 is designed to bind to activins and thereby, potentially reduce activin receptor type II signalling. Therefore, it is anticipated that KER-012 could potentially improve the underlying pathology of heart failure.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the feasibility and effectiveness of the CDED in adult patients with Crohn’s disease on outcomes including compliance of the diet, changes in nutrition impact symptoms and quality of life; in comparison to their baseline diet. It is hypothesized that if patients are compliant with the CDED and the CDED is completed appropriately and in its entirety, it will be a feasible treatment strategy and effective in inducing remission for adult patients with Crohn’s Disease.

The effect of noise in the dental clinical setting has been shown to exceed safe levels, and the potential effects of this on the hearing of dental practitioners well-established. Occupational noise-induced hearing loss (ONIHL) is an irreversible condition that can affect dental practitioners as they are subjected to long-term, frequent exposure to high-frequency noise from equipment and instruments. Prolonged exposure may reduce hearing sensitivity and acuity and is associated with various comorbidities such as tinnitus; it may affect quality of life. Within the last decade ONIHL in dentistry has been well-researched, yet there remains limited discussion regarding use of hearing protection devices e.g., custom-made earplugs, in the clinical setting. Although such devices are a well-established means of preventing ONIHL in noise-prone professions there is little evidence regarding their use in dentistry. This study aims to investigate dental practitioners’ perceptions of the use of hearing protective devices and create a tool for future larger scale investigations. By raising awareness and implementing appropriate hearing protection measures, it may be possible to safeguard the hearing health and overall well-being of dental professionals.

The BEFRIENDING with GENIE project aims to improve the quality of life of people living with dementia and their caregivers from CaLD backgrounds by reducing loneliness, increasing social support networks and improving access to and knowledge about appropriate services. BEFRIENDING is a program in which trained facilitators provide 8 regular (e.g. weekly) visits interacting with the participants to share informal conversations. GENIE is an online tool that supports participants to expand their social support networks and engagement with existing services based on their interests and intrinsic motivations. GENIE comprises a database of existing services and activities tailored to participants' interests/needs and a network mapping tool that measures their social supports over time. We have successfully implemented BEFRIENDING and GENIE interventions in our previous research, but this is the first project where we bring them together. We will deliver the BEFRIENDING with GENIE program to 100 participants and caregivers from four main language groups of older Australians: Italian, Chinese, Vietnamese and South Asian. The program will use trained facilitators with appropriate language and cultural knowledge. We will work with Partner Organisations (with whom we have a track record of successful research collaboration) who support community-dwelling people living with dementia and their caregivers in four states, WA, SA, Victoria and NSW, thereby providing a strong test of the generalisability of the intervention across Australia. The project methodology utilises a hybrid effectiveness-implementation design including a randomized clinical effectiveness trial combined with a mixed method multi-stakeholder process evaluation. The research is led by a multi-disciplinary team comprising anthropology, sociology, geriatric medicine, public health, social work, nursing, occupational therapy, and implementation science with expertise in CaLD populations and dementia.

This is the first component of a masters project that is investigating humeral head position and translation in unstable shoulders. In this observational study, we aim to measure the differences in humeral head position and/or translation between unstable and stable shoulders. We hypothesise that there will be detectable differences between stable and unstable shoulders as measured by ultrasound. This may then inform treatment strategies that aim to address the pathological humeral head position / translation.

This is the second component of a masters project that is investigating humeral head position and translation in unstable shoulders. In this pre- and post-intervention study, we aim to investigate the effect of taping and rehabilitation on humeral head position and/or translation in unstable shoulders. We hypothesise that humeral head inferior position/translation will reduce and that these findings will correlate with other measured improvements of shoulder position, strength, pain, and function.

This will be a prospective, single-arm, multiple center observational registry which will include patients in whom the Penumbra RED System is used as part of a mechanical thrombectomy procedure to treat intracranial large vessel occlusion presenting with acute stroke. Baseline patient information, relevant co-morbidities, stroke clinical data, procedural data, imaging (CT, DSA, MRI) data, periprocedural complication data, and clinical follow-up information at 90 days will be collected. There is no alteration to the standard of care at the participating site. The purpose of the registry is to collect and analyse data regarding the efficacy and safety of the TGA approved range of Penumbra RED thrombectomy catheters used with the Penumbra Aspiration Tubing and the Penumbra Machine suction pump (referred to together as the Penumbra RED System) that are already in clinical use at the participating sites.