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Pressure injuries (also known as pressure ulcers or bed sores) are wounds caused by pressure related damage to the skin and underlying tissues which typically occurs when patients are immobile or unwell. Pressure injuries cause pain and suffering, predispose the person to infection, may require lengthy hospital stay and can cause premature death. Pressure injuries affect up to 28% of residents of aged care facilities in Australia and cost an estimated AU$983 million per annum. The International Practice Guidelines for pressure injury prevention and management provide direction for the assessment, care and monitoring of people who have or who are at risk of pressure injuries. However, it is challenging to implement clinical practice guidelines in practice. This is particularly the case in residential aged care, where there may be variable skill mix among staff. Access to Wound Consultants may be a barrier in this setting and furthermore, direct access (in Home) to nurse consultant expertise may not feasible (e.g. during the global pandemic). Evidence-based pressure injury care is essential to prevent pressure injuries and ensure timely healing of existing pressure injuries. The Project seeks to implement and evaluate an innovative approach to care, specifically a remote expert nurse consultation model for pressure injury management. A pilot study asks whether something can be done, should the researchers proceed with it, and if so, how. We hypothesise that the study will answer these questions and will therefore inform the future conduct of a larger trial to evaluate the effectiveness of remote expert would nurse consultation for healing pressure injuries in residential aged care.

This study is a double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled clinical trial seeking to investigate the efficacy and safety of Cannabidiol (CBD) oral oil versus placebo, for the management of abdominal pain in patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Given CBD’s noted anxiolytic, antidepressant, immunomodulatory, and anti-inflammatory activity, we believe that CBD will be a safe and potentially effective candidate for use in adults with IBS. Many gaps still exist in our knowledge on the efficacy and safety of cannabidiol in the clinical setting for the management of symptoms of IBS. However, with suboptimal therapeutic effects, and associated side-effects, of pharmaceutical drugs such as antidepressants, anticholinergics and opioids, this has led to this study being developed to explore CBD as a potential therapy for IBS. As such,this study will determine whether CBD may alleviate the broad list of symptoms which may present in IBS patients.

The proposed study will be the first to compare the effects of "typical" breakfast timing (Early at 7:00 am, Mid at 09:30 am and Delayed at 12:00 pm conditions) and 20 minutes of exercise after breakfast on postprandial hyperglycaemia in free-living adults with Type 2 Diabetes (T2D) using continuous glucose monitors (CGM) in a 6-week randomised crossover-controlled trial. The hypothesis of this study is that altering the time of breakfast will modify postprandial hyperglycaemia, and that twenty minutes of brisk walking after breakfast will attenuate (lower) postprandial hyperglycaemia.

This feasibility study is designed to investigate the potential effectiveness of a professional learning intervention to support educators in supporting children with maladaptive behaviours in the early childhood education context. Intervention impact will be evaluated in terms of (1) shifts in child behaviour (2) changes in teacher-child relationships, and (3) shifts in room-level practice. It is hypothesised that there will be improved self-regulation in the intervention group compared to those in the control group.

Well fitting filtering masks (N95 masks) have become standard practice for personal protective equipment for workers performing aerosol-generating procedures during COVID-19. Currently, all health care workers in forward facing hospital roles are required to be undertake education (~20 minutes, low cost) regarding mask fitting and complete mask fit testing as directed by the Victorian Department of Health. This is also true for all Monash University students entering hospital and emergency service placements. However, there is scant evidence supporting the effectiveness or sustained benefit of current procedures used to undertake mask fit testing in this context. We hypothesise that there will be no difference between the intervention and control group in terms of the proportion of participants who "pass" the Quantitative Particle Count Fit Test either immediately following provision of the intervention / control condition or 2 weeks later.

Among people who inject drugs (PWIDs) with invasive infections, completion of planned antimicrobial therapy is likely to be an important predictor of patient outcome. The probability of completion of planned therapy may vary based on the model of care. Our aims are to determine the current burden, management and outcomes of invasive infections and the impact of currently available models of care on confirmed completion of planned antimicrobials for PWID admitted to hospital with invasive infections. We will enrol adults at least 18 years old with current injecting drug use (defined as within previous six months) admitted to hospital for management of a proven or suspected acute infection. EMU will be performed as a multi-centre prospective cohort study with two separate but related components. EMU-Audit will collect de-identified standard of care information regarding patient admission, demographics, management and outcomes. EMU-Cohort will enrol a subset of participants involved in EMUAudit who consent to 30- and 90-day follow up and data linkage. We hypothesise that in PWID with invasive infections, community-based treatment is superior to inpatient management alone for confirmed completion of planned antimicrobials.

For many people who live with dementia, managing their daily medicines is a complex and difficult task. Whilst medicines are used to improve health, their incorrect use may cause unintended consequences that range from minor symptoms to serious events that require hospitalisation. The role that community pharmacists have in optimising medicine safety is well-recognised, and several generic programs have been developed for pharmacists to help people living in the community use their medicines more safely and easily. Using one of these programs as a basis, our project will develop an in-pharmacy service to meet the specific needs of people living with dementia. The service is called MedsCheck Plus. This will involve the pharmacist holding structured meetings with a person living with dementia (and their family carers if appropriate), so that any medicine-related issues can be identified and overcome. The project will first develop a model for MedsCheck Plus, then train community pharmacists to do them. Finally, twenty people living with dementia will be provided with MedsCheck Plus, and the experiences of the consumers and pharmacists will be studied.

This research seeks to improve the exercise options available to people with multiple sclerosis (MS). As MS worsens, the ability to perform aerobic exercise becomes difficult due to leg and/or arm paresis and the possible effects of MS related fatigue. The main purpose of the study will be to assess whether the technology of functional electrical stimulation can assist people with moderate MS to exercise at a higher intensity than they might otherwise be able to do. The results will increase the understanding around when voluntary cycling can be of benefit and when the addition of functional electrical stimulation might be beneficial in assisting persons with MS to exercise more effectively.

The purpose of this study is to assess if the use of a robotic arm during TKR surgery results in better patient outcomes compared to the conventional method of using company instruments (jigs). In recent years there have been many technological advancements to help surgeons be more accurate in how they put in the components during TKR. The most recent advancement is the development of a robotic arm (ROSA) that assists the surgeon in performing the bony cuts required during surgery before putting in the components of the TKR. Traditionally, this part of the procedure has been performed with the help of company instruments called jigs. While the accuracy of component implantation may be better with the use of the robotic arm, we still do not know if the use of the robotic arm means better patient outcomes compared to the standard method of using company instruments (jigs) in TKR.

This study aims to evaluate the effects of a family-based surfing intervention on the physical and psychological wellbeing of children and adolescents with chronic conditions. Who is it for? You may be eligible for this study if you are a patient with one of the following conditions and aged 7-18 years: Cystic Fibrosis, Post-Burn Injury, Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis, Cerebral Palsy, Sarcoma, or Type I Diabetes. Study details Participants who choose to enrol in this study will be randomly allocated to either receive the surfing intervention, or no intervention at all. Those in the surfing group will complete 12 one-hour surf lessons over 8 weeks, with the same instructor. All participants will complete questionnaires collecting data on factors such as psychological wellbeing, physical activity and family relationships. It is hoped that data from this study will help determine whether a family surfing program may lead to potential ongoing and low-cost health benefits for participants.