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Endometriosis is a chronic condition in which tissue similar to that lining the uterus grows on other organs, leading to scarring and adhesions and causing pain, menstrual irregularities, and infertility. Impacting 11% of Australian women and those assigned female at birth, endometriosis is under-recognised due to the variability in symptoms, reliance on surgery for diagnosis, and stigma of menstruation. Usual care, comprising of hormone and pain medications, has limited efficacy, is associated with adverse effects, and is discontinued by up to 40% of people. Recognising the inadequacy of the current biomedical healthcare approach to treating endometriosis, there is a need to address the complex biopsychosocial burden of endometriosis. The current project will be a small feasibility pilot trial to explore whether an adapted, online Acceptance and Commitment Therapy intervention is feasible and acceptable for this population. This study will form a part of a larger study (i.e., CoDeEndo, a hybrid type 1 efficacy and implementation randomised controlled trial evaluating a highly novel online multi-modular supportive care program for Australian adults living with endometriosis) for which ethics approval will be sought once this study is near completion.

This study aims to determine if a new chicken and plant protein nugget can improve an individual’s gut microbiome when it is eaten consistently (i.e., every day for two weeks). The nugget was created specifically for autistic people with feeding challenges or selective eating preferences. It has been modified in response to autistic people’s feedback about pleasant and unpleasant sensory components of foods in a prior study (e.g., the look, taste, or smell of certain foods). We are trying to create a sensory-friendly food for autistic people that can help improve their gut microbiome. The nugget we are developing uses a modified ratio of protein and fibre that we hope will improve gut microbiome. The nugget has been sensory-modified based on feedback from autistic individuals and caregivers with feeding challenges. The created nugget is not a medicine – it is a sensory-modified food product.

South Australia (SA) has one of the highest rates of asthma in the world, and SA children have the highest rate of asthma hospitalisations in the entire country. Many 'basics' of good asthma management are not done well: 90% of asthmatics are not using their inhalers correctly (7), 70% do not have an asthma action plan and 55% have poor medication adherence, costing Australian hospitals $239 million in 2015 alone. Over the past nine-years our team of clinicians, researchers, policy makers, asthmatics, carers and key community stakeholders have partnered to co-design asthma self-management education smartphone application prototypes. The result is an artificial intelligence (AI)-based asthma self-management and education app, called Asthma AI+. Now that we have shown acceptability, usability and feasibility of our app, the next step to creating a game-changing asthma tool is to know exactly how well it works. Therefore, the aims of this project are to show improved asthma symptoms, self-efficacy, quality of life, inhaler technique and mental health/wellbeing, with reduced hospital utilisation and health care expenses, when our Asthma AI+ app is compared to the symptom monitoring control app at 12-week follow-up.

The purpose of this study is to determine whether exercise capacity and lung function changes after lung cancer resection surgery, and whether there are any predictors for these changes. Who is it for? You may be eligible for this study if you are an adult with lung cancer that is scheduled to undergo lung cancer resection surgery. Study details All participants in this study will undergo their lung resection surgery as part of their standard care. For this study participants will be asked to attend two sessions at an outpatient hospital clinic to undergo physical exercise and lung function testing and complete a scan. This session will take approximately 2.5 hours and will occur within two-four weeks prior to surgery and again 6 months after surgery. The tests undertaken will be lung function testing, walk testing, symptom questionnaires and a ventilation/perfusion SPECT scan. This study hopes to better understand changes in physical capacity and symptoms after lung cancer surgery and whether there are ways to predict those changes.

This project addresses a significant unmet need: recovery of arm and hand function in people with tetraplegia (loss of use of the arms and legs). This issue is ranked by survivors as being of the highest importance, more important than the ability to walk. A novel non-invasive method of spinal cord stimulation (transcutaneous spinal cord neuromodulation – TESCoN) will be trialled for the first time in Australia, and in both subacute and chronic tetraplegia. Electrodes on the skin at the back of the neck will deliver a unique form of stimulation to the spinal cord without causing discomfort. This will modulate (alter the activity of) spared but non-functional pathways as well as the spinal circuitry below the injury level. When combined with intensive rehabilitation of the arm and hand, TESCoN leads to altered connections within the spinal cord, resulting in improved function. TESCoN enhances the effect of intensive rehabilitation and is not a replacement for it. This study will be an open-label trial using an adaptive design, with a combined efficacy and safety endpoint and clear rules for stopping the trial if the intervention is shown to be ineffective and/or unsafe. TESCoN is expected to lead to improvements in function that are superior to those obtained with current best practice rehabilitation. Such recovery of function may have a substantial impact on independence, potential for employment, and quality of life.

The current study will investigate the potential of a novel treatment approach to AVH in young people with first episode psychosis. This integrative model combines advances in psychological therapy (CBT for psychosis), new technologies (Virtual Reality) and neuroscience (neurofeedback) in an individualised symptom capture treatment approach. The appellation ‘Hybrid’ is used to reflect this integrated approach of treatment. The focus is on the first episode of psychosis rather than on relapsing or chronic samples, as enhancing treatment in the early stages of disorder has been found to have the greatest impact on clinical outcomes. The targets of interest here are both neural (modulating specific neurophysiological activity, see below) and psychological (moving up a symptom-eliciting exposure hierarchy).

Post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection (PASC) or Long COVID is a chronic condition that causes an array of symptoms, affecting multiple body systems. Although Long COVID may affect up to 10% of those who are infection with SARS-CoV-2, there is still poor understanding of disease pathology. Cohort studies of Long COVID patients have observed dysbiosis of the gut microbiota in these patients when compared to healthy subjects. Long COVID patients have reduced abundance of short-chain fatty acid (SCFA) producing bacteria, particularly butyrate producing species that are important for maintenance of gut homeostasis. However, it remains unclear if the reduction in butyrate-producing species may contribute to underlying disease in Long COVID. Increasing butyrate and SCFA concentrations has been observed to have anti-inflammatory effects in other immune-mediated models of disease, and have been proposed as a potential therapeutic to treat Long COVID. It remains unknown if increasing SCFA delivery has any therapeutic benefit in Long COVID. Our study team has extensive experience with supplementing fermentable fiber into the diet to increase SCFA concentrations in people. Therefore, we aim to investigate if fermentable fiber supplementation has therapeutic benefit in Long COVID patients. This will be via a dietary intervention study, to assess if fermentable fiber supplementation improves symptoms of Long COVID.

This study is evaluating the implementation and psychological impacts of an evidence-based booklet designed to assist clinicians with delivering information to individuals diagnosed with HPV-OSCC. Who is it for? You may be eligible for this study if you are a patient with a diagnosis of HPV-OSCC, or the family/friend carer of an individual diagnosed with HPV-OSCC. Healthcare professionals who are involved in a multidisciplinary Head and Neck Cancer team and are overseeing the care of patients diagnosed with HPV-OSCC will also be recruited for this study. Study details Clinicians will supply the booklet to patients in hardcopy and/or digital form, depending on the patient's preference. The booklet will be provided at or shortly after diagnosis, and prior to treatment commencement. This is an exploratory study to understand how clinicians integrate the booklet into their clinical practice, and patients and clinicians will be asked to complete questionnaires and interviews evaluating their experiences. Findings from this study will help researchers understand the effectiveness and implementation outcomes of a patient education material in the context of newly diagnosed HPV-OSCC patients.

In this randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled study, 90 adults aged 40 to 80 years with self-reported memory problems will be randomly assigned to receive tocotrienols (TheraPrimE rice) or a placebo for 12 weeks. Changes in cognitive performance will be assessed at baseline and week 12 by administering the Test of Memory and Learning (TOMAL-2) and Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function–Adult Version (BRIEF-A). Moreover, a self-report questionnaire assessing sleep quality will be administered monthly to assess changes in sleep quality. Changes in blood concentrations of several markers associated with inflammation, neuroplasticity, oxidative stress/ antioxidant activity, and blood lipids will also be measured to help identify the mechanisms of action associated with tocotrienol supplementation.

This is a feasibility and acceptability study of a parent-coaching group, Bloom, which has been co-designed and co-produced between researchers and community organisations. The study aims to recruit parents of 80 autistic children aged 3-8 years through community organisations and social media networks. The primary outcomes will look at how acceptable the group is to parents, and how feasible it is to run a bigger definitive trial of this group in the future.