ANZCTR search results

This study is looking at follicular unit extraction to treat hidradenitis suppurativa, a condition that causes inflammation of hair follicles resulting in severe pain and scarring. Follicular unit extraction is a technique used in hair transplants to entirely remove hair follicles. We want to test whether or not by removing hair follicles using hair follicle extraction technique reduces inflammation and improve the quality of patients’ life. We will do hair follicle extraction on both sides of either the armpit or groin and compare it with topical routine treatments to assess whether or not there is improvement. We will follow the participants until week 24 of the study.

Post-stroke fatigue is a common and debilitating consequence of stroke, affecting over half of all stroke survivors, which can persist for years and interferes with recovery. Education is recommended but stroke survivors report that health professionals provide minimal information about fatigue that is difficult to apply to their daily life. This project will evaluate a co-designed education tool called the Fatigue-o-meter via a proof-of-concept study design.

Heart2Heart is a community-based randomised controlled trial with 12 months follow-up. The aim of the study is to determine whether implementation of a digital peer support program for people living with CHD is effective in improving social connectedness, clinical and patient-reported outcomes and experience measures. The intervention group will have access to a 6-month intervention that enables peer support via an interactive mobile application, which includes online discussion groups, access to resources and facilitated conversations with health professionals. If effective, the digital peer support intervention has the potential to increase social connectedness and empower people to self-manage and support others through sharing lived experience and learning.

Current pharmacotherapy options of haemodynamic support in critically ill patients with vasodilatory hypotension are limited. Centhaquine is a novel agent that has a dual action on the sympathetic system and may helped in the management of hypotensive states. We hypothesise that, compared to placebo, centhaquine will be associated with higher stroke volume, higher central venous pressure, higher mean arterial pressure, and lower vasopressor agent use over six hours after initiation of the study infusion. We plan to enrol 18 adult patients.

The Bridging Study aims to evaluate, implement and upscale the Navicare model of care. In the Navicare model of care, a Care Navigator links help seekers with supports they may need to improve their mental wellbeing. The Care Navigator assists with referrals, makes appointments with mental health care professionals, and provides a private space in which to access online mental health support from online psychology and other service providers. The Navicare model currently exists in the town of Moranbah (“Hub 1”), in the Bowen Basin region of Queensland. The Bridging Study will evaluate Navicare in three new sites. The study hypothesises that implementation of Navicare, using a locally tailored approach that addresses barriers to implementation supported by evidence-informed implementation strategies, will sustain access (primary outcome) to mental health services in regional settings in the post-implementation period compared to the implementation and pre-implementation period. It also hypothesises that sites that engage more with Navicare will be more successful in sustaining improved access and uptake of mental health services, and reducing crisis mental-health-related Emergency Department (ED) presentations, mental-health related time in Emergency Departments, and overnight hospitalisations compared to the implementation and pre-implementation periods; and will improve access and uptake of mental health services in the implementation period compared to the pre-implementation period.

This project seeks to undertake a prospective longitudinal natural history study to generate a comprehensive phenotypic profile of biological, behavioural, clinical, neurocognitive and neurophysiological markers associated with INDD and its progression; and correlate with the genotype when clinically available. This work will provide more complete neurobiological descriptions, novel mechanistic insights, and clear recommendations regarding candidate biomarkers for diagnosis and treatment tracking.

We will conduct a multi-centred, double-blind randomised sham-controlled trial on 88 people with chronic SCI. The primary outcome will be walking ability measured using the Two Minute Walk Test (2MWT) with stimulation. Participants will be randomised to either the Stimulation group or the Sham group. All participants will receive the same intensive locomotor training consisting of three thirty minute sessions per week, over 12 weeks, in combination with either stimulation or sham stimulation. The secondary outcomes will capture different aspects of recovery, strength, spasticity, and quality of life. Outcome measures will be taken at baseline, Day 0, 13-weeks and 6-months after randomisation. Our hypothesis is that spinal stimulation plus locomotor training in chronic SCI will improve walking ability, demonstrated by a clinically important change on the 2 Minute Walk test and that spinal stimulation will be a feasible and safe treatment that can be provided in a community setting.

In this randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled study, 100 young-to-middle-aged adults aged 18 to 45 years with self-reported sleep difficulties will be randomly assigned to receive magnesium L-threonate (Magtein) or a placebo for 6 weeks. Changes in cognitive performance will be assessed at baseline and week 6 by administering The National Institutes of Health (NIH) Toolbox Cognition Battery and Raven’s Progressive Matrices Second Edition (Raven’s 2). Moreover, self-report questionnaires will be administered to examine changes in sleep quality, restorative sleep, and general wellbeing. Changes in sleep patterns will also be monitored using an Oura Ring. Finally, to measure potential changes in gaming skills, the 3D Aim Trainer, a first-person shooting game, will be administered at baseline and week 6.

The current study will investigate the effect of meal time alteration on the quality of sleep, separately in early birds, night owls, and intermediate chronotypes. We hypothesize that taking the evening meal closer to bedtime reduces sleep quality in morning people, but not in night owls.

Bile acids, released into the intestine after the meals, have long been regarded as simple ‘intestinal detergents’ to aid fat digestion. Recent evidence suggests that bile acids are also capable of regulating the blood sugar levels after meals, by releasing of a hormone from the intestines called glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1). We recently showed that a bitter tasting substance, denatonium benzoate, could enhance the release of GLP-1. We now want to test whether combining a bile acid (taurocholic acid) with denatonium benzoate in capsules taken by mouth will improve blood glucose control after a meal in people with type 2 diabetes.