ANZCTR search results

The project's aim is to conduct a pilot randomised controlled trial to determine the efficacy of PATHFINDER on outcomes for heart failure with reduce ejection fraction over a 6-month period. Two hundred patients with CHF will be randomised to receive the PATHFINDER Heart Health Plan or control (usual care). For the PATHFINDER group, the project’s Nurse Practitioner (NP) will help facilitate the transition from tertiary to primary care including a Heart Health Plan, and be a point of contact for GPs needing support for medication titration. Referrals for cardiac rehabilitation program or exercise training program will be facilitated by the NP, with input from other Allied Health Professionals. Complex issues will be triaged for cardiologist support through the Advanced Heart Failure and Cardiac Transplant Service (FSH) . Primary outcome includes proportion of patients adhering to guideline-recommended treatment at 6 months post-enrolment. Secondary outcomes include proportion of patients receiving the guideline-recommended treatment independently at 6 months post-enrolment; exercise training program or cardiac rehabilitation program adherence by 6 month post-enrolment, 6 minute walk test distance, patient-reported outcome includes Kansas City Cardiomyopathy Questionnaire-short version (KCQ12), Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-2),Medication Compliance Questionnaire at baseline following enrolment and 6 month post-enrolment, ;PROMIS Physical Function Short Form 4a, Self-care of Heart Failure Index at 6 months post-enrolment.

We aim to evaluate the attitudes of mental health professionals towards MDMA-therapy trials by a comparison of attitudes to a neutrally-labelled pharmacotherapy, using a double-blind, randomised controlled vignette study design. We hypothesise that mental health professionals will have the following differences in attitudes towards MDMA-therapy, when compared a neutrally-labelled pharmacotherapy: 1) higher concerns for safety; 2) Lower predicted efficacy; 3) stronger objections to participation and/or lower levels of recommending participation. By assessing professional attitudes towards MDMA-therapy for PTSD using an experimental study, we can understand if there are any biases that may be inhibiting conducting research in this area, or inhibiting the uptake of this potential new treatment by clinicians.

All patients receive the POP device app as part of standard of care practices for under going Total Hip Arthroplasty procedures, irrespective if they are enrolled in the study. This is is a pilot, observational, prospective study to assess patient satisfaction of a mobile phone application (App) as a means of delivering information on post-operative treatment program, rehabilitation and research tools for patients undergoing total hip or knee replacement. Follow up of Patient Reported Outcome Measures (PROMs) is essential to auditing practice and undertaking research in arthroplasty. Traditionally, PROM data is collected via paperwork. Similarly, patient education about post-operative regimens has been in the form of verbal discussions and multiple sheets of paper. The Patient Optimised Pathway application (POP-App) has been designed to reduce this paperwork burden. It is hoped this app will improve the surgical patient journey. 30 participants will be enrolled into a single arm of the study (no control group). Participants will be shown how to use the app and fill out the PROMs prior to operation. They will then be asked to fill out PROMs and Patient Satisfaction surveys pre-operatively and at Day 1, 2 weeks, 6 weeks, 3 months and 6 months post-operatively. Data collected will confirm acceptability of the app.

It is important for individuals with type 1 diabetes (T1D) to engage in a physically active lifestyle, but it can be challenging to control blood glucose levels around exercise. Current exercise guidelines are not written for young people with T1D and are difficult to access. Our research team have developed a mobile health App called ‘acT1ve’. The app was developed in collaboration with young people with T1D, and enables users to receive personalised insulin and carbohydrate advice in relation to the exercise they plan to participate in. This advice is based on international T1D exercise guidelines. The aim of this study is to test the use of acT1ve in free-living conditions with young people with T1D.

Prominent treatments for post-traumatic stress (PTS) involve confronting the traumatic memory and associated thoughts, feelings and sensations. There is recent evidence to suggest that such treatment methods may not need be extensive and may be effective in a short-term intervention, such as structured writing. The proposed research aims to explore the effectiveness of two experimental writing paradigms in comparison to a control, for producing change in PTS symptoms. The research additionally aims to explore the factors that promote recovery (i.e. mechanisms of change). In particular, it will explore the role of each of four putative mechanisms: (1) changing learnt expectation of distress on recounting, (2) changing thinking about the event, (3) self-compassion, and (4) social sharing). It is hypothesised that the experimental conditions will produce change in PTS symptoms in comparison to the control; and that the factors which will account for these changes (i.e. mechanisms) will differ depending on type of writing condition and its associated underlying theoretical paradigm.

The advent of technology that can enable immersive and engaging, high-dose practice, has led to new opportunities for restoring function in neurological patients. ECU’s Neurorehabilitation and Robotics (Edwards) Lab has recently acquired the Mindpod motion capture and gaming system, that enables fun exploration and practice using whole arm-hand in large movements to guide a dolphin to swim in a gaming environment. We test if this immersive digital gaming system in the stable chronic phase of stroke, can safely and feasibly be conducted and can have positive effects on arm function and cognition.

We will pilot a community palliative care coordination package in an urban and rural setting within Hunter New England Local Health District. We hypothesise that earlier identification of distress through routine surveillance in our community based patient together with the availability of a pool of Assistants in Nursing will improve the number of days spent in the place of preference (home).

This research study is looking at the effects of photobiomodulation ( Photobiomodulation therapy is defined as the utilization of non-ionizing electromagnetic energy to trigger photochemical changes within cellular structures that are receptive to photons) on healing of pilonidal sinus wounds healing after surgical debridement. As this is a pilot study it is a feasibility study into wether we have correctly set up the parameters for this project so a larger study can take place which will have more statistical significance. We are using a small LED torch which produces a 660 nm wavelength and shining the light directly onto the wound for a period of 60 -90 seconds in those patients who have been referred to Hospital in the Home for complex wound management. The length of time is determined by the size of the wound, 90 seconds for wounds longer than 4 cm and 60 seconds for wounds 4cm or less. The plan is for having a control group and a treatment group both will receive the same standard dressing care regime but the treatment group will additionally have the light treatment.

Treatment of end-stage kidney disease for more than 2 million people worldwide, including 13,000 Australians on dialysis is extremely costly ($1.1billion per year) yet results in poor survival (45% at 5-years), lower than all cancers combined. Health-related quality of life for people managed on haemodialysis is low, around 60% of full health. Both women and men on haemodialysis frequently experience symptoms of severe or overwhelming pain, fatigue, nausea, cramping, itching, trouble sleeping and depression which contributes to a poor quality of life. The problem is standard dialysis care does not focus on patient-centered outcomes like health-related quality of life or symptoms; instead the focus is on the management of biomarkers (e.g. urea, potassium, phosphate). This has resulted in missed opportunities to intervene and improve symptom management and overall quality of life. New data from other areas suggest symptom monitoring may not only improve quality of life, but also improve overall survival. The Symptom monitoring WIth Feedback Trial (SWIFT) is a novel Australia & New Zealand Dialysis and Transplant Association (ANZDATA) registry-based cluster randomised trial to improve the lives of people on kidney dialysis. We will test the hypothesis that: symptom monitoring using the IPOS-Renal with feedback to clinicians, improves health-related quality of life (measured by the EQ-5D-5L) and cause specific mortality among participants receiving haemodialysis.

This study will use a single blinded pre-post interventional randomised controlled trial design to evaluate the effectiveness of an infographic compared to an synchronous e-learning module to increase general practice nurses' knowledge of CKD risk factors and screening processes and to; evaluate the effectiveness of an e-learning module compared to an infographic on general practice nurse's learning time.