ANZCTR search results

We are trying to establish whether the degree to which one self-reports to be low or high in habitual behaviour can in turn affect the efficacy of non-invasive brain stimulation on measures of cognitive flexibility. Our hypothesis is that performance on cognitive flexibility will be worst for those high in habitual behaviour when receiving inhibitory non-invasive brain stimulation but not during control/sham stimulation.

The Mater-University of Queensland Study of Pregnancy (MUSP), is a 40-year longitudinal birth cohort study from Brisbane, Australia, which has examined a variety of environmental risk factors for cognitive, psychological, and behavioural health outcomes for over 7000 women and their children. Findings to date have demonstrated multiple links between early maternal/ childhood adversity and poor outcomes but the major limitation has been attrition. This project will link administrative health data to the MUSP longitudinal, population-based birth cohort (n=7223) to assess health outcomes of childhood adversity (e.g. low birth weight, maternal hypertension during pregnancy, maternal smoking, poverty, Use of Queensland-wide administrative health data will mean that we can capture all health service contacts throughout the state. The cohort are now aged 40 years of age. The study will therefore add new perspectives by tracking the life course outcomes of the entire sample of adults following earlier life adversity and so provide evidence-based understanding of the long-term health consequences including health outcomes that are particularly relevant for adolescents and young adults such as trauma.

International and national guidelines for bronchiectasis emphasise the importance of physiotherapy-led airway clearance therapy and exercise therapy, in the management of Bronchiectasis which affects approximately 263,000 people living with bronchiectasis in Australia Current physiotherapy intervention models in Australia are face-to-face inpatient or outpatient consultations. An alternative option is to provide physiotherapy through telehealth, however the feasibility and acceptance of telehealth physiotherapy has not been examined in people with bronchiectasis and the clinical effects of this intervention has not been determined. Our primary hypothesis is that an innovative model of telehealth physiotherapy will be feasible and acceptable to individuals with bronchiectasis and will be associated with a high level of satisfaction. Our secondary hypotheses are that a telehealth physiotherapy service will improve disease-specific quality of life and cough-related quality of life over 12 months, compared to no physiotherapy service; telehealth physiotherapy service will reduce the frequency of self-reported exacerbations compared to no physiotherapy service, and finally that participants receiving telehealth physiotherapy will outline a mix of views of their experiences and perceptions of the service provision.

A transdiagnostic, cognitive behavioural and biopsychosocially-based digital health program for decreasing symptoms of anxiety and depression (called Life Flex) will be evaluated. Life Flex digital health is one of the digital health programs offered through the HealthZone platform. People who consent will be given access to the Life Flex program immediately but are randomly allocated to one of two groups: 1) Life Flex digital health program A (immediate access to all of the program modules) and; 2) Life Flex program B (weekly, sequential release of the program modules). Life Flex is designed to provide people with information and strategies to address their anxiety and depressive symptoms and contains six ‘core’ modules, plus an Introduction module delivered over 8 weeks. Each module will take approximately 25 minutes to complete. In addition, in order to reinforce the module-based information, there are 20-30 minutes of offline activities each week. Participants will also receive automated emails (e.g., to remind them to log on, when to complete post/follow-up questionnaires) and will be asked to self-monitor their mood and daily lifestyle events (e.g., sleep) and asked several questions at the beginning of each week, to monitor their progress. Participants will complete a pre-intervention assessment (Week 0), during intervention (Week 3, 5, & 7) assessments, post-intervention assessment (Week 9) and a 3-month follow-up assessment (Week 21 respectively). It is expected that people who undertake Life Flex will show reductions in anxiety and / or depressive symptoms at post-intervention assessment and follow-up assessment time points, as well as increases in positive emotions, hope and emotional regulation.

An open trial will be used to evaluate the effectiveness of the benzodiazepine digital health program (BDZ digital health) that provides psycho-education and gradual reduction information. BDZ digital health can be accessed on multiple devices (desk top, tablet and mobile). People, who visit the website, either directly or through seeing the study advertised, will be invited to take part in the BDZ digital health evaluation study. BDZ digital health is designed to provide people with information and strategies to address their benzodiazepine use via five ‘core’ modules, plus an Introduction module. Each module will take approximately 20 minutes to complete. Participants will receive automated emails (e.g., when to complete the during, post/follow-up intervention questionnaires). During the course of the study, we strongly encourage participants to work with their doctor should they decide to reduce their benzodiazepine dosage as well as seek specialist benzodiazepine telephone support from Reconnexion. Participants will complete a pre-intervention assessment (Week 0), during intervention (Week 3) assessments, a post-intervention assessment (Week 6) and a 3-month follow-up scheduled assessment (Week 18). Participants will continue to have access to the program until Week 26 (8 weeks following the 3-month assessment). Participants will be asked questions to ascertain reasons for engagement or lack of engagement with the program. It is expected that people who undertake BDZ digital health will show reductions in their benzodiazepine dependency, anxiety and / or depressive symptoms at post and 3-month follow-up time points.

This is an investigator-initiated single-centre, prospective data collection study to assess the validity of using a new iPhone application to document pain in patients undergoing orthopaedic surgery. Eligible and consenting participants will be asked to record their pain scores using three different scales, the NRS, VAS and on the Pain Tracker App, on the Pain Level Recording Form. The NRS and VAS are current standard of care. The Pain Tracker App will be on the researcher or surgeons phone, this device will be handed to the participant who will rate their pain using the App. Once completed, the researcher will transfer the recorded pain score provided by the App onto the Pain Level Recording Form and then exit the App without saving any details. The Pain Tracker App will record and hold no patient details. The participant will also be asked which scale they preferred to use and this will also be recorded on the Pain Level Recording Form.

Double-blind placebo-controlled randomised controlled feasibility trial to assess the feasibility of a larger multi-centre study. The rationale for the study are based on the known action of the drug fluvoxamine to reduce inflammation in the brain. The main objective of this pilot is to determine feasibility on a larger scale - including rate of recruitment, adherence to drug, ability to preform research activities and reporting adverse events related to the drug. As this is a pilot study our hypothesis is that more than 25% of patients approached will be happy to enrol in the study, 80% of enrolled participants will adhere to the study drug schedule and we will be able to collect measurable information on 90% of the participants. Secondary objectives include instance and severity of post-operative delirium, changes in EEG from intra-operative recording to and post-operative day 1, and collecting blood results/bio-markers associated with inflammation. Previous randomised control trials of prophylactic interventions to treat delirium have shown modest effectiveness. The intervention (Fluvoxamine 100mg oral tablet) or placebo will be administered on the evening prior to surgery, day of surgery and post-operative day one. Participants will be asked to partake in cognitive assessments, delirium assessments and have routine bloods drawn as part of daily research activities.

School-based physical activity interventions need to be 'scaled-up' to improve population health. The aim of this project is to study the effects of different implementation support models on the scale-up of the "RT for Teens" program in NSW secondary schools. The expected outcomes include an optimal support model for scaling up school-based health promotion interventions, and benefits to the health of participants from their participation in resistance training.

Introduction of CBT-AR in a primary health care specialist eating disorder service for adults living with ARFID. Manualised therapy of CBT-AR provided by an extended scope eating disorder accredited practising dietitian. It is hypothesised that people who complete CBT-AR will be in partial or complete remission of ARFID, as per DSM-5 and have improved psychosocial and physical symptoms.

Healthy post menopausal women (n=3)will be recruited into a pilot study to investigate the absorption of estradiol following a single application to the skin of estradiol coated microparticles. A single dose topical application will be applied to the right submandibular skin area (top of the neck just below the jaw line). The primary objective is to assess whether estradiol is absorbed into the circulation of the eligible women recruited onto study and assess if there are any local reactions. This will be assessed by serum hormone blood levels (over time) and skin photography of the application site.