ANZCTR search results

While mHealth interventions present an opportunity to provide universal, easy to access, evidence based care, they have not been routinely used by health services to support the achievement of population health objectives for children and families across the first 2000 days. Healthy Beginnings for HNEKids is a mHealth intervention that has been developed and piloted in the Hunter New England region of NSW. The program has been developed to complement face to face care provided by Child and Family Health Services and aims to provide evidenced based age and stage appropriate text messages to support child health and development across the first 2000 days. This research, via a 2x2 factorial trial will aim to optimise the breastfeeding module of the HB4HNEKids program and assess the effectiveness of the optimised mHealth intervention on improved infant feeding outcomes at 4 and 6 months. Parents will be randomised to one of four groups including: 1) optimised breastfeeding text messages; 2) support person text messages to support the breastfeeding parent; 3) both the optimised breastfeeding message and support person text messages and 4) control arm receiving the current HB4HNEKids program. It is hypothesised that families randomised to receive the optimised breastfeeding text messages (Group B), or secondary carer/support persons messages (Group A), will have higher breastfeeding rates at 4 months, compared to families randomised to the control text messages (Group D). It is hypothesised that families randomised to receive both the optimised breastfeeding messages and secondary carer/support persons messages (Group C) will see the biggest improvement to breastfeeding rates at 4 months compared with families receiving the control text messages (Group D).

We are conducting a multi-centre placebo controlled randomised controlled trial to answer the question of whether antibiotic prophylaxis benefits patients in reducing the risk of surgical site infection. Despite our guidelines now largely stating antibiotics should not be used in non-hysterectomy benign gynaecological laparoscopies, antibiotic prophylaxis is still widely utilised in this setting, exposing patients to potential drug side effects for minimal benefit. This practice incurs additional costs to the healthcare system and may contribute to the rise in antimicrobial resistance. Our study aims to provide definitive evidence to guide clinicians and refine both local and international guidelines.

The main aim of this research is to assess how Orthokeratology (OK) lenses accumulate surface deposits and scratches under regular cleaning and disinfection practices, in order to determine the optimal time for replacing the lenses. Additionally, we will evaluate the health of the front surface of the eye and the comfort of the lenses during one year of overnight use. We hypothesize that the OK lens spoilage, including scratches and surface deposits, as well as eye discomfort levels, will progressively worsen across the visits at the baseline visit, 6 months and 12 months visit. The primary outcome: OK lens spoilage grading scores. Secondary outcomes: Comfort (Ocular Surface Disease Index, OSDI and Contact Lens Dry Eye Questionnaire-8, CLDEQ-8) and ocular surface changes (corneal and conjunctival staining). The proposed study uses a prospective, observational quasi-experimental research design where the contact lens spoilage from the same participants will be observed over the time before and after contact lens wear. Individuals (between 18 to 40 years of age) with a refractive error between -1.00 and -4.00D of sphere and astigmatism = 2.50D will be recruited in the study. The eligible participants will receive study OK lenses during the dispensing visit, following the screening visit. Participants will attend a total of eight visits, including a follow-up visit 2 weeks after the lens cessation.

Syndesmosis injuries are relatively uncommon but difficult to diagnose, especially in the acute phase. The long term sequalae of undiagnosed syndesmosis injuries include chronic pain, instability and osteoarthritis. In some cases, surgical fixation is required. Point of care ultrasound (POCUS), which is ultrasound performed on patients at the bedside, provides a novel investigative method to accurately diagnose potential syndesmosis injuries, but its feasibility in the acute care setting remains unclear. This study will determine the feasibility and accuracy of Emergency Physiotherapy Practitioners (EPPs) using POCUS to diagnose anterior inferior tibiofibular ligament (AITFL) injuries, which is a surrogate marker for syndesmosis injuries, compared with the reference standard of radiology ultrasound. Patients found to have a syndesmosis injury on radiology ultrasound will be initiated on a novel pathway, of an MRI and orthopaedic follow up. This will also allow comparison of positive ultrasound findings compared with MRI results. It is hypothesised that physiotherapists will be accurate at identifying an injury to the AITFL when compared to a radiologist report. The results of this study could inform the development of a diagnostic pathway that could be implemented in EDs and Minor Injury Clinics throughout Australia.

Syndesmosis injuries are relatively uncommon but difficult to diagnose, especially in the acute phase. The long term sequalae of undiagnosed syndesmosis injuries include chronic pain, instability and osteoarthritis. In some cases, surgical fixation is required. Point of care ultrasound (POCUS), which is ultrasound performed on patients at the bedside, provides a novel investigative method to accurately diagnose potential syndesmosis injuries, but its feasibility in the acute care setting remains unclear. This study aims to assess the quality of life and patient health care resource utilisation of a POCUS pathway (POCUS group/ intervention) compared to usual care (usual care group/ control). This will enable a budget-impact analysis of the proposed syndesmosis injury management pathway to be performed. It is hypothesised that early detection of syndesmosis injuries will minimise management delays, enhance patient outcomes, at no additional cost, compared to usual care. The results of this study could inform the development of a diagnostic pathway that could be implemented in EDs and Minor Injury Clinics throughout Australia.

The aim of the ANTIC study is to identify one or more promising nutrition interventions targeting the gut-lung axis to reduce inflammation in COPD. This will be a 3-way crossover trial, with each intervention period run for 4 weeks, with a 4-week washout between each intervention. Interventions to be tested are: • Inulin, 6 grams twice daily with food • High Amylose Maize Starch, 10 grams twice daily with food • Control period, usual dietary intake.

This research study is investigating the safety and efficacy of using artificial intelligence (AI) in Australian breast cancer population screening by determining if using AI improves mammogram reading accuracy and timeliness and reduces reading workload. Who is it for? You may be eligible for this study if you are a woman aged 40 years and over who is eligible to participate in population-based mammography screening in Victoria and South Australia. Study details Participants will be randomly allocated to have their mammograms read by an AI-integrated system, or by the current mammogram reading standard of care (independent reading by two blinded radiologists and a third if discrepancy). The AI-integrated system will replace one of the independent radiologists with an AI reader (BRAIx AI Reader) while maintaining the arbitration radiologist reader if needed. Data will be collected on screen-detected breast cancer rates and radiologist workload. It is hoped that findings from this study will help researchers evaluate the clinical utility of implementing AI within breast cancer population screening systems in an Australian setting.

This pilot study is assessing the feasibility of delivering quality assured single-fraction (SF) stereotactic ablative radiotherapy (SABR) pathway for early-stage non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in a ‘One-Stop’ visit to Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre. Who is it for? You may be eligible for this study if you are over the age of 18 and are referred for SF SABR, have early stage (T1-T2 N0M0) NSCLC, based on CT and/or PET/CT imaging. Study details Participating in this research involves undergoing your SABR treatment according to a different timeframe to what would normally happen. It also involves completing a short anonymised survey after your treatment to provide feedback on your experience of the treatment. Your next visit is for the simulation scan which the treatment team uses to plan and design your treatment. This happens whether or not you are participating in the study. However, if you are not on the study, you go home after this scan and the team works on the plan in the background. You are called back for treatment approximately two weeks later and undergo treatment as an outpatient. If you choose to participate in the study your treatment will happen within the same visit, customised to one of two options based on your travel requirements: (1) If most convenient to attend for a morning planning CT scan, treatment will be delivered in the afternoon. There will be a gap of roughly 4-6 hours between scan and treatment. You are free to leave the hospital during this time. Total time in the hospital may be anywhere from approximately 2-8 hours on that day. (2) If most convenient to attend for an afternoon planning CT scan, treatment will be delivered the next morning. You will also meet with one of our nurse specialists who will also discuss arrangements for your followup after the treatment and give you printed information about this and the experience survey. You will be provided with a $50 voucher for the ‘Super Eight’ café on the ground floor at Peter Mac to cover the cost of beverages and/or meals on the day of your attendance. A follow-up consultation with your radiation oncologist will also be arranged approximately two weeks later. This can be arranged as a ‘virtual’ telehealth appointment if you prefer. It is hoped this research will contribute to the development of streamlined, patient-centred treatment pathways and improve access to timely, high-quality SABR, potentially enhancing health outcomes for patients with early-stage NSCLC.

This study aims to improve colorectal cancer prevention by implementing a streamlined digital surveillance program, the SCOPES program, across five hospital networks in South Australia. Who is it for? You may be eligible for this study if you are an adult patient at one of the participating hospital networks in South Australia and are scheduled to undergo a lower gastrointestinal procedures (e.g. colonoscopy, flexible sigmoidoscopy, colorectal surgery) or if you have recently had a surveillance colonoscopy. Study details The SCOPES program will streamline surveillance colonoscopy practices using data linkage, natural language , and rule-based algorithms to ensure guideline-compliant care with colonoscopy frequency recommendations. The program's effectiveness will be assessed by comparing surveillance recommendations, patient experiences, and cost-effectiveness before and after implementation. Additionally, a statewide clinical data collection will be established to support ongoing research and quality improvement. It is hoped that findings from this study will help enhance consistency, reduce disparities in care, and improve patient outcomes in colorectal cancer surveillance.

This research is about finding the optimal dosage of probiotics for sick newborn babies with gestational age greater or equal to 35 weeks, admitted to Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) of Perth Children’s Hospital. Their sickness could have been either due to a medical illness or a surgical condition. We will find out if a dose higher than 3 billion probiotic bacteria per day reduces the load of harmful bacteria and increases the load of beneficial bacteria in their gut. We will measure the gut bacteria by examining their stool (poo) samples using sophisticated laboratory investigations. Specifically, we will compare the dose of 3 billion bacteria against doses of either 6 or 9 billion bacteria per day. We think that babies who receive higher dose of probiotics will have better intestinal bacteria profile and better overall health.