ANZCTR search results

Insomnia is a highly prevalent and burdensome disease. It is thought to affect as many as one in three adults worldwide at any one time. Treatment options for insomnia are often limited to doctor-implemented cognitive behavioural training (CBT), pharmaceutical intervention, or a combination of the two. Whilst traditionally effective, both options have considerable limitations, most frequently those associated with cost, compliance and effectiveness (CBT), or tolerance and addiction potential (pharmaceutical). The Australian Federal Government recently approved the medical use of cannabinoids among select patient groups. The main active ingredient, cannabidiol (CBD), may have sedating and/or sleep-enhancing effects. There is therefore increasing global interest as its potential use as an alternate sleep-aid. The primary objective of this research is to examine whether 2 weeks of nightly supplementation with a novel sublingual CBD-treatment improves sleep outcomes among individuals with moderate-severe insomnia. Specifically, we seek to examine the effect of treatment on subjective [sleep onset latency, sleep efficiency (%), and time awake after sleep onset] and objective sleep quality [as measured by Actigraphy outcomes (time in bed, sleep efficiency (%), number of awakenings, sleep latency) after 2-week supplementation with sublingual CBD compared with a placebo.

The current proposal will assess the different taste perceptions between allergic individuals and non-allergic individuals which we hypothesize to be associated with single nuclear polymorphisms of taste receptor genes. A further study of the mechanisms underlying in taste receptors and immune cells will be carried out by evaluating the levels of taste receptor genes expressed in immune. Medically diagnosed food allergic and non-allergic cohorts will be recruited from the Allergy Medical Group, Queensland Allergy Services and the University of Queensland.

Persistent or chronic pelvic pain affects approximately 15% of women aged 18-50 with significant implications for patient quality of life. We plan to run a prospective observational study looking at the injection of botulinum toxin A (Botox) into the pelvic floor under ultrasound guidance and follow pain and quality of life scores in women who have failed conventional treatment. We hypothesise that injection of Botox into selected muscles of the pelvic floor will lead to improved pain scores and quality of life in women with chronic pelvic pain secondary to pelvic floor muscular spasm.

The overall aim of this project is to identify best practice in the planning and treatment of radiotherapy for anal cancer. Through measuring the best options available for radiotherapy we aim to maximize the potential of radiotherapy to control disease and minimize treatment side effects for patients. As a rare cancer there is a relatively small amount of research and information available about the optimal radiotherapy procedures to be used in the treatment of anal cancer. This project aims to address this with respect to the planning and treatment options currently available.

Respiratory illness is the most common reason for young children to be hospitalised. Many children receive High Flow Nasal Cannula (HFNC) respiratory support which delivers high flow rates of heated humidified air/oxygen to the nose through nasal prongs to assist their breathing. However, it is currently unknown whether it is safe for children to eat and drink whilst they are receiving HFNC support. HFNC increases pharyngeal pressures to keep the airway open and reduce work of breathing, but it is suspected that these increased pressures may affect a child’s ability to protect their airway during swallowing. This may cause food or fluid into enter the child’s lungs when eating or drinking (oropharyngeal aspiration) when on HFNC, and this may damage the lungs and prolong the child’s recovery. This study aims to determine whether oropharyngeal aspiration occurs (incidence of aspiration) by having a speech pathologist assess the child’s feeding and swallowing at the bedside (and listening to swallow sounds via a microphone attached to the throat) and whist eating and drinking during a videofluoroscopic swallow study (VFSS, a dynamic x-ray procedure). The research speech pathologist will assess 60 children from preterm (35 weeks gestational age) through to 5 years of age who are receiving HFNC respiratory support. We hypothesize that preterm and infant children will have a higher incidence of aspiration than older children; and that children on higher HFNC flow rates will have a higher incidence of aspiration than those on lower flow rates. Our study findings will inform the development of evidence-based guidelines to inform healthcare professionals about the safety for oral feeding of young children receiving HFNC respiratory support.

This study aims to evaluate the tolerability and safety of a sub-urothelial injection of durvalumab for Bladder Cancer. Who is it for? You may be eligible to join this study if you are aged 18 years or above with a diagnosis of muscle invasive bladder cancer or high-risk non-muscle invasive (T1, high grade Ta, carcinoma in-situ) bladder tumours and scheduled for a cystectomy. Participants will be allocated to receive a single dose of durvalumab to their bladder. The dose will be decided according to the dose-escalation schedule. Participants will be required to answer a series of questions in regards to their experience whilst receiving care, and consent to their removed tissue being used for this research. It is hoped this research will provide an alternative, safer and better tolerated treatment option for people with high-risk non-muscle invasive bladder cancer.

This study will trial the 6-month Further Enabling Care at Home (FECH) program. The FECH program is delivered to (family) carers by specially prepared nurses over the phone, after the discharge from hospital of the older patient (care recipient), and is designed to guide the carer to identify and rate their support needs, then address the most pressing of these needs via a problem solving approach. Hypotheses to be tested are that carers will benefit from the program in terms of improved health and preparedness to care; care recipients will benefit in terms of improved symptoms and independence; reduced carer and care recipient health service use for both carers and care recipients will also result, as well as delayed residential care admission for care recipients; and the program will be cost effective overall.

'Improving healthy sleep practices in paramedics: is a digital intervention effective?' aims to investigate whether a mobile phone application (Sleepfit) can improve the sleep and healthy sleep practices of a group of shift working paramedics. Given the requirements of shift work, this group is working and sleeping at non-traditional times, and as such, can experience disruptions to circadian rhythms. This disruption can further impact their sleep, and lead to a wide range of negative health and wellbeing effects. Therefore, improving the sleep and healthy sleep habits of this group is important, and our study aims to achieve this through a 14-day intervention period available through Sleepfit. We hypothesis that, following use of the app, shift working paramedics will demonstrate improved sleep, both in quantity and quality, as well as increased engagement with healthy sleep practices.

This project has two main purposes. Firstly, we are interested in knowing how and why people with an acquired brain injury(ABI) move around within their community during the process of occupational therapy driving assessment (OTDA) and for up to six-months later. Secondly, we would like to follow people who are referred for on-road driving lessons to understand the effectiveness of these lessons in achieving approval to return to driving. Currently, there is very little evidence about: 1. How participating in occupational therapy driving assessments impact upon how people get around and engage in their community following ABI, or 2. How effective driving lessons are in getting back to driving after ABI. We do not know if skills developed in lessons are able to be maintained over time. This project will provide evidence as to whether participating in on-road driving remediation enhances, restricts or has no impact upon where, how, why and with whom people access and participate in their community after brain injury. The project will look at the process of driving rehabilitation from the perspective of the participants receiving driving assessment and rehabilitation, to look at ways to improve practice. Outcomes will be used to guide the development of services to target the right type of support at the right time during the driving rehabilitation process for people who have experienced an ABI.

This study will develop the Skin Field Cancerisation Index (SFCI) using a Delphi method of experts who assess skin field photographs. Who is it for? You may be eligible to join this study if you are aged 18 years or above and have photographs of skin fields including the face, upper limbs, lower limbs and torso. Study details This is a multi-site and multi-specialty initiative lead by Dermatologists with the primary outcome aim of validating the Skin Field Cancerisation Index (SFCI). Patient photography will be the primary method of data collection used for validating this score. Skin Fields that will be collected range from none to severe disease burden severity based on previous dermatological experience. Twenty medical specialists around Australia will assess up to 150 photographs to measure their perceptions of SFCI to identify reliability and validity of the instrument. This study will contribute to research in health care as the use of this score will provide consistency between observers and can potentially be used to assess efficacy of treatment interventions.