ANZCTR search results

The Tailored Activity program (TAP) is a structured, occupational therapist-led intervention for people with dementia and their care partners living in the community. It has been shown to be effective in reducing behavioural and psychological symptoms (BPSD) in people living with dementia and carer stress and improving quality of life. TAP is provided by Occupational Therapists (OTs) in up to eight home visits over 3-4 months. The OT assesses the person’s capabilities and strengths, and teaches carers to tailor and adapt meaningful activities (any activity that is important or personally meaningful to the person with dementia), use effective communication strategies, generalise these skills to other activities of daily living, understand environmental triggers for BPSD, and utilise stress reduction strategies for themselves. Despite evidence of its effectiveness, however, TAP is not currently available in Australia. We plan to bring a modified version of the program to Australia where it will be called TAP-Australia and will be provided in 6 sessions, We aim to train up to 100 OTs across Australia who will then be able to provide the program to people living with dementia/ probable dementia and their carer living in the community.

This randomised controlled trial (RCT) aims to determine the effect of a 3-year multi-component healthy food retail support model (the Intervention) on sales of healthy and unhealthy foods and drinks, compared to a Control condition, in local government-owned retail outlets in non-seasonal sport and recreation facilities. We hypothesise that the Intervention will be associated with a decrease in purchases of unhealthy food and drinks, and an increase in purchases of healthy food and drinks. Four LGs (approx. 20 facilities) will be assisted to adopt healthy retail practices via: (i) salary support for a dedicated local government project officer; (ii) implementation support and training; and (iii) a retailer-level monitoring system to incentivise progress. Four control local governments (approx. 20 facilities) will not receive any intervention, but will be monitored during the RCT. The study will help inform interventions to support local governments to implement healthy food retail changes, while considering whether such interventions offer 'value-for-money' for local and state governments.

Preterm infants frequently require mechanical ventilation. This lifesaving intervention is associated with long term respiratory consequences, the most important being bronchopulmonary dysplasia. To minimise this risk, clinicians employ lung protective ventilation strategies. Such strategies require detailed knowledge of the lung volume state. Lung volume is commonly assessed by chest x-rays (CXR). CXRs have disadvantages including not always being readily available, exposure to ionising radiation and only providing a static picture of lung, often at an uncertain point of the respiratory cycle. Lung ultrasound (LUS) is being increasingly utilised in neonatal intensive care units. It has proven utility in the diagnosis of respiratory distress syndrome (RDS), pneumothorax, consolidation and the need for surfactant and mechanical ventilation. Lung ultrasonography offers advantages over conventional imaging modalities: no ionising radiation, less manipulation of the patient and dynamic assessment of the lung. The precision and accuracy of this technique is to detect poor lung recruitment, and it’s correlation with respiratory support requirements in preterm infants warrants further exploration. We designed a prospective observational study to explore these applications. The results of this pilot study will support further clinical studies exploring the utility of LUS in guiding neonatal respiratory support.

This study aims to evaluate the feasibility of pre-treatment DPYD genotyping (a gene that codes for an enzyme that metabolises fluoropyrimidine chemotherapy). For those individuals who have a certain DPYD variant, the study will also aim to assess the safety of reducing their dose of fluoropyrimidine chemotherapy. Who is it for? You may be eligible for this study if you are aged 18 years or over and have a confirmed malignancy for which fluoropyrimidine chemotherapy is deemed clinically appropriate. Study details Participants will be asked to provide a blood sample for genetic testing. Based on results, individuals may have alterations to their treatment plan such as a 50% dose reduction for the first two cycles of chemotherapy or changes in the drug administered. Data on treatment-related toxicity will be collected. It is hoped that data from this study will establish the clinical relevance of regular DPYD genotype testing for cancer treatment.

This research project seeks to answer the following research questions: 1) Is there a relationship between separation anxiety and REM sleep fragmentation in children in middle childhood (aged 7-13) with insomnia? 2) Can Sleep Restriction Therapy reduce separation anxiety, sleep fragmentation, REM sleep fragmentation, daytime sleepiness, and worrying in these children? The study will randomly allocate children to receive either Sleep Restriction Therapy or Bedtime Regularisation. Children’s separation anxiety, sleep, sleepiness, and worries will be assessed using self-report measures as well as polysomnography at baseline and post-treatment. We hypothesize that separation anxiety will be significantly associated with REM sleep fragmentation. We also expect to observe greater reductions in anxiety, REM fragmentation, sleep fragmentation, and sleepiness from baseline to post-treatment in children receiving Sleep Restriction Therapy compared to Bedtime Regularisation.

This is a prospective randomized controlled trial comparing the outcome of patients undergoing primary total knee arthroplasty with either a midline or a lateral skin incision. Patient outcomes will be collected and compared between the two surgical cohorts over a 24 month post-operative period, and will include a range of subjective and functional outcomes, and kneeling tolerance. It is hypothesised that there will be no difference in kneeling tolerance between midline or lateral skin incisions.

This study aims to deliver health care in a novel way by creating an opportunity for people with osteoporosis and osteoporotic fracture to engage in an exercise program within their own home. Participants will be recruited from the Osteoporosis Re-fracture Prevention service at Westmead Hospital and will be randomly allocated to one of two treatment groups: 1) usual care for people with osteoporotic fractures, and 2) usual care for people with osteoporotic fractures, plus participating in a 6-month online exercise program. This study will also have a control group of participants with osteoporosis who have not had an osteoporotic fracture. The findings from this study will help to determine whether an online exercise program can improve the effectiveness of standard bone treatment in reducing the rate of re-fracture and improving other health outcomes for people with osteoporosis and osteoporotic fracture. The study will also provide insight into the safety, adherence and feasibility of an online exercise program for people with osteoporosis.

Obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) affects more than 50% of people with interstitial lung disease (ILD), with inadequate treatment due to poor compliance with current treatments such as CPAP and mouth splints. Supplemental oxygen is a potential treatment for OSA in people with ILD, which is readily available and easy to use, and ovenight oximetry may be helpful for establishing the diagnosis of OSA in people with ILD.

Excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) and fatigue are common complaints following traumatic brain injury (TBI). EDS and fatigue interfere with daily activities, including work productivity, and negatively impact quality of life (QoL). Treatment of EDS and fatigue in TBI are therefore paramount. Light therapy has been shown to reduce EDS and fatigue in several clinical populations including TBI, however whether these benefits translate into meaningful outcomes, including enhanced work productivity and quality of life, has not been robustly investigated. The proposed study aims to evaluate the effects of light therapy on EDS, fatigue, work productivity and QoL outcomes in people post-TBI. It is hypothesised that both green-blue light therapy plus sleep hygiene guidelines and sleep hygiene guidelines alone will improve EDS, fatigue, work productivity and QoL outcomes, however green-blue light therapy plus sleep hygiene guidelines will produce an effect greater than that of sleep hygiene guidelines alone.

We hypothesise that a random afternoon glucose has superior sensitivity to a fasting blood glucose to diagnose diabetes in patients taking long-term prednisolone. Hyperglycaemia is a known adverse effect of Prednisolone and previous research has demonstrated that the pattern of hyperglycaemia seen in patients taking prednisolone, typically occurs in the afternoon with less of an effect on morning fasting blood glucose levels. In the clinical setting, the diagnosis of diabetes can made via different testing modalities. Taking into account the pattern of hyperglycaemia caused by prednisolone, the sensitivity of each of the diagnostic modalities may vary. As a result, we will compare a random afternoon blood glucose to a morning fasting glucose. These two testing modalities will be compared to the current gold standard test which is an oral glucose tolerance test.