ANZCTR search results

The aim of this study is to use focus groups to evaluate the acceptability of blood tests and other tests to monitor the treatment of oesophageal, stomach and bowel cancers. Who: You are eligible to join this study if you are aged over 18 years old and have either (1) had treatment for oesophageal, stomach or bowel cancer, (2) provided a support role for someone who has had one of these cancers, or (3) are a clinician who provides clinical care and treatment for these cancers. Study details: All consented participants will take part in a phone interview to collect background details, followed by a 45 minute focus group at the Flinders Centre for Innovation in Cancer, Bedford Park, South Australia. Focus groups will include discussions on the knowledge, trust and experience with tests for monitoring of treatment for oesophageal, stomach and bowel cancers, in particular, blood tests. This research will help to determine the acceptability of different test methods for clinical care, by patients, carers and clinicians. This will help to improve clinical care strategies for cancer.

This study aims to Assess if implementation of an electronic exercise prescription software in the form of a smart phone app improves patient adherence, outcomes, satisfaction and knowledge of their home exercise program compared to paper based exercise programs.

There is growing evidence that Parkinson’s disease causes weakness of the respiratory muscles, and reduced strength of the inspiratory muscles has also been related to a range of respiratory dysfunctions such as dyspnoea. Substantial evidence shows that inspiratory muscle training has been shown to increase inspiratory muscle strength, reduce dyspnoea, increase exercise tolerance, and enhance quality of life in other populations. In this context, we seek to explore the effects of inspiratory muscle training in people with Parkinson’s disease. Inspiratory muscle training could be an effective intervention in rehabilitation programs for Parkinson’s disease. The potential benefits of such training could include not just increasing muscle strength but also improving daily living activities, reducing dyspnoea on exertion and improving quality of life. As respiratory abnormalities have been significantly associated with increased disability and reduced quality of life in various chronic conditions, any intervention with the potential to improve respiratory function deserves consideration.

This project aims to pilot the Promoting Resilience in Stress Management for Parents (PRISM-P) intervention in parents of young children with T1D. PRISM-P consists of four skill-based modules: stress management, goal setting, cognitive restructuring, and benefit-finding. This pilot study aims to examine the acceptability, appropriateness, feasibility, and preliminary efficacy of PRISM-P.

Procedural sedation involves the administration of sedative medications to facilitate a painful or intolerable procedure. It is commonly performed in emergency departments for reduction of a range of orthopaedic injuries, to facilitate cardioversion for tachyarrhythmias, amongst other uses. The usual practice involves one clinician performing sedation, another clinician performing a procedure, and a nurse assisting with medications, monitoring and documentation. It is generally performed in a resuscitation bay to be prepared for any complications that may arise. Procedural sedation is commonly performed in Australasian emergency departments however the evidence base for the practice of it is not as robust as many other areas. Drugs used for procedural sedation have changed over time with introduction of newer agents, however there remains a lack of evidence as to best practices. As such the administration of procedural sedation varies widely with significant variation within departments and even wider variation internationally. We are establishing a database of all procedural sedation performed at our hospital with a view to expanding this database state-wide and eventually throughout Australasia. This large dataset will allow us to analyse the sedation performed and draw associations between the patients involved, the medications used, adverse events, and procedure success rates.

The INFINiTE-CV2 Phase I trial aims to assess whether nasal delivery of an Interferon (IFN -1)/ Hyaluronic Acid formulation is safe (phase 1) in COVID-19 infection. This study is being performed to address an unmet urgent clinical need for a simple effective treatment for a pathogen of global health significance. It is hoped that this treatment is shown to be safe and effective with potential implications for both treatment and prevention of COVID-19.

Inclusion Body Myositis (IBM) is increasingly being associated with respiratory muscle weakness. The purpose of this study is to implement an at-home 12 week long inspiratory muscle training (IMT) program and compare measures of respiratory muscle strength, functionality, sleep quality and quality of life before and after the intervention in 15 IBM patients. IMT protocols have been effective in many medical conditions including other neurological disorders so we hypothesise that it will improve IBM patients' inspiratory muscle strength while secondarily improving functionality, sleep quality and quality of life.

We hypothesise a dose-dependent relationship between aerobic exercise duration and serum-derived BDNF concentration in stroke survivors. We also hypothesise that upper-limb outcomes and functional recovery will improve following combined aerobic and task-oriented interventions in stroke survivors. This study aims to explore the relationship between the ordering of aerobic exercise and upper-limb rehabilitation to promote motor learning and retention post-stroke. Participants will complete a six-week individualised exercise program under the supervision of an Accredited Exercise Physiologist (AEP). Participants will then be randomised to one of two groups for the two-week combined intensive intervention. Modified-Constraint Induced Movement Therapy (mCIMT) will be completed on 10 consecutive weekdays and a High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) program will be completed on three days per week.

MICArdiac study is a 6-month multi-centre randomised controlled trial to determine whether an adaptive mobile health program optimised with artificial intelligence can improve cardiovascular risk factors in a primary prevention cohort, compared to a standard text-message program. The study population will be participants who have high blood pressure, with no prior history of cardiovascular disease. Participants must be over 35 years of age and own a compatible smartphone. Potential participants will be identified through cardiometabolic clinics, primary care and the community. Patients will be randomised to MICArdiac intervention or standard-text care in a 1:1 allocation ratio. The intervention group will receive MICArdiac mobile health program comprised of the MICArdiac smartphone app, messages delivered via in-app notifications, and two wireless monitoring devices (blood pressure monitor and physical activity tracker). The primary outcome is the mean change in systolic blood pressure between intervention and control at 6 months. The MICArdiac mobile health program was co-designed with researchers, clinicians (GP and Cardiologists) and consumers, and developed in collaboration with the Sydney Informatic Hub (SIH), being downloadable via the Apple and Google app stores. This study was funded through the Tides foundation and Australian Stroke and Heart Research Accelerator (ASHRA) and aims to recruit a total of 500 patients.

The purpose of the study The purpose of this study is to discover better ways to care for the psychological wellbeing of mothers, particularly in supporting mothers to cope with difficult thoughts and feelings about their childbirth and early feeding experiences. This study is a micro-RCT of a brief online information package. All participants will initially complete an online survey asking about their own coping, childbirth, and feeding experiences (both breastfeeding and bottle feeding). Participants will then be randomly assigned to either have immediate access to the online package (intervention group) or to an 8-week waiting period (wait-list control group). All participants will complete a second online survey 8 weeks later. Those participants who do not receive the information package straight away will still be offered access to the resources once they have completed the second survey – that is, they will have an 8-week wait before receiving access to the resources. It is hypothesised that, compared to the waitlist-control group, the intervention group will demonstrate improved mental health outcomes at post-intervention. This study is being conducted by Laynee Brophy as part of the requirements for the Masters of Clinical Psychology at the University of Queensland, under the supervision of Dr Amy Mitchell (Registered Nurse & Lecturer/Research Fellow, Griffith University) and Dr Koa Whittingham (Clinical/Developmental Psychologist & Senior Research Fellow, UQ).