ANZCTR search results

Pain and discomfort are commonly associated with all disease conditions especially in critical care. Despite pharmacological developments, the management of pain and discomfort remains suboptimal and often associated with complications. Administering the existing drugs via the inhaled route could achieve better concentration of the drug for effective pain relief and sedation while avoiding side effects. Previous studies have demonstrated safety and often efficacy of inhaled sedatives and pain relief. However, due to the absence of concentration data there is lack of dosing guidelines and hence leading to variable dosing which causes inadequate clinical effect. This is a prospective, open labelled observational Pharmacokinetic (PK) (drug metabolism) study with the aim of describing the comparative concentrations of the single dose sedatives and pain relief agents between intravenous, through the vein and inhaled routes of drug delivery. Blood and urine samples will be studied to assess the concentrations of the sedative and pain relief. The following drugs will be observed: fentanyl, morphine, midazolam, clonidine, dexmedetomidine and ketamine. It is hoped that the knowledge gained from this study will enable the development of dosing regimens for optimal inhaled sedative and pain relief therapy. We plan to recruit at least 10 participants per drug for this study.

Alcohol and other drug use is a leading cause of harm for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander youth. Despite resilience and a continuous strong connection to culture, the ongoing impacts of colonisation, disempowerment, and inequity have an intergenerational impact on the wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adolescents. This intergenerational impact contributes to average initiation of substance use two to six years earlier among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander compared to non-Indigenous adolescents. Prevention of youth alcohol and drug use has therefore been identified as a key priority for improving the wellbeing and addressing health inequities between Aboriginal and non-Indigenous Australians. Previous research has found that curriculum programs implemented in secondary school can effectively prevent uptake of these substances by young people, and have flow-on benefits for social and emotional wellbeing, physical health, school attendance, and educational attainment. However, there are currently no school-based drug prevention programs that are culturally-inclusive and effective for Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander students. To address this gap we partnered over the past three years with Gilimbaa, an Indigenous Creative Agency, and four schools in QLD and NSW to develop Strong & Deadly Futures, a cultural adaptation of the effective Climate Schools school-based prevention program. The program was co-developed with school staff and Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander youth, who shared their stories, role models, things they love about their community and positive reasons for not using alcohol and other drugs. These perspectives formed the basis of the story arc for an illustrated story, which communicates the key prevention messages and highlights Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander cultural strengths. The current trial builds on a successful pilot study in four schools, and will be the first RCT of a school-based, culturally-inclusive drug and alcohol program for young Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander peoples. Strong & Deadly Futures will recruit 960 Year 7 and/or 8 students from 24 schools across Australia during 2022. Hypothesised benefits include reduced drug and alcohol use, and improved wellbeing.

This study will be a large randomised controlled trial that looks at the benefits of a multi-modal exercise intervention (i.e. balance and walking program) for people with mild cognitive impairment. The primary aim of this research is to determine whether a balance-focused multimodal exercise intervention improves physical health and quality of life; and reduces the rate of cognitive decline and falls for people with mild cognitive impairment. The secondary aim is to evaluate whether a balance-focused multimodal exercise program is cost-effective from a health care perspective.

This research aims to explore the journey undertaken by people with severe asthma in obtaining their severe asthma diagnosis. It has been reported that this diagnosis is often delayed and people with severe asthma experience symptoms for many years before they are diagnosed and able to access the most appropriate medicine for them. By exploring their journeys, this study aims to identify barriers to obtaining a severe asthma diagnosis and facilitating the development of a streamlined pathway for the future.

Many cancer patients and families strive to maintain hope in the face of adversity. Thus discussions on future care should be timed to follow adjustment to the diagnosis, recognise the capacity to integrate hope with truthful communication, and accommodate the preferences from those who hold diverse values and beliefs. Our research program aims to promote a patient and family centred approach to ACP, respectful of individual patient preferences and values. We have previously described the iterative and dynamic nature of decision-making in cancer, the caregiver role in decision-making, the benefit of patient-caregiver dyads as an entity in ACP and introduced the vignette technique as an approach to facilitate discussions. More recently, innovative approaches such as the use of video decision support tools (VDST) have been used to elicit EOL care preferences. We aim to explore this novel way by modelling values-based EOL decision-making conversations between patient-caregiver dyads, to assist patients and their families to reach shared-decision making. We were awarded a Bethlehem Research Griffith Foundation Grant in 2018. To date 87 patient-caregiver dyads have been randomized to an intervention or control arm. Our preliminary statistical analysis suggest that we have to expand our sample size to ensure more meaningful outcomes

The purpose of this trial is to assess the visual performance of astigmatic contact lenses compared to dual-focus contact lenses.

The purpose of this trial is to assess the visual performance of a monthly, centre-near multifocal contact lens available in two near additions against two commercially-available equivalents. Participants will each lens for one month on a daily wear basis.

Making a decision about elective egg freezing can be difficult and requires weighing up a number of different factors including costs, side-effects and the uncertainty of outcomes. This study aims to understand how different information resources help women making a decision about egg freezing. Participation will involve completing three online surveys over a 12 month period which take about 10-25 minutes each to complete. You will also be randomly allocated into one of two groups. Each group will be emailed different online information to look at, and you can spend as much or as little time as you like using this information. The surveys will cover topics including: personal details about yourself; how you are feeling; your decision-making, understanding, experience and attitudes towards egg freezing; and questions relating to information resources.

Pulmonary and cardiac rehabilitation programs are part of standard care for people with chronic respiratory conditions and cardiac disease. As part of these programs, a mix of endurance and resistance exercise training is undertaken, with the benefits of improving exercise tolerance, reducing symptoms, improving quality of life and reducing the risk of future cardiac events. However, some individuals undertaking a pulmonary or cardiac rehabilitation program achieve minimal benefit. For some individuals in pulmonary rehabilitation, this has been attributed to symptoms of breathlessness or fatigue which may reduce the adherence to an exercise program. In cardiac rehabilitation, compliance may be dependent on the degree of pleasure experienced during the program as well as motivation and family support. In healthy people, listening to music during exercise can reduce the perception of fatigue or breathlessness and this has been linked to achievement in greater exercise intensity, due to the distraction of the music listening. To maximise the benefits of music listening, the tempo of the music and type of music are both important. It is thought that music listening during cardiac and pulmonary rehabilitation programs may optimise the benefits of these exercise sessions, as it may desensitise individuals to their symptoms of breathlessness and fatigue and may enhance motivation for attending these programs. Anecdotally, background music is often played during cardiac or pulmonary rehabilitation programs as part of clinical practice. However, the use of background music in these program, the actual choice of music and the reasons for these choices have not been examined. In addition, while individuals attending these programs may choose to listen to their own music choices, but the frequency to which this occurs, the interface used for self-selected music listening and the reasons for self-selected music choices have not been examined.

Functional dyspepsia (FD), characterised by symptoms of epigastric pain or early satiety and post prandial distress, has been associated with duodenal eosinophilia, raising the possibility that it is driven by an environmental allergen. Non-coeliac gluten or wheat sensitivity (NCG/WS) has also been associated with both dyspeptic symptoms and duodenal eosinophilia, suggesting an overlap between these two conditions. The aim of this study is to evaluate the role of wheat (specifically gluten and fructans) in symptom reduction in participants with FD in a pilot randomized double-blind, placebo controlled, dietary crossover trial.