ANZCTR search results

Metabolic imbalances at the postprandial state, particularly after a high fat meal are important contributing factors to development of cardiovascular diseases. The underlying mechanisms involves a sharp increase in triacylglycerol, a pro-inflammatory response along with an aberrant production of pro-oxidant molecules, which may impair vascular and endothelial functions. A high fat meal challenge is a method to investigate such imbalances promoted in a daily basis in Western diets. This study aims to investigate if food anthocyanins are able to attenuate these deleterious effects of high fat meals. Participants attended fasted and had a high-fat meal with either 250 ml of queen garnet plum juice (intervention rich in anthocyanins) or apricot juice (control free of anthocyanins).

This registry will include patients who present with an abnormality in the wall of their aorta (Type B aortic syndrome) with the aim of determining the natural history and clinical outcomes of this condition. Specifically, the group will look at the outcomes of patients who were treated with early intervention and/or basic medical therapy. From this study, the relationship between patient factors including kidney injury, and benefit from early intervention will be reported.

Healthcare professionals provide substandard chest compression following cardiac arrest, which is deemed a preventable harm because this skill can be acquired. The recent development of technology-enhanced cardiac compression training devices (high-fidelity mannequins) provides an alternative to traditional instructor-facilitated training. This pilot study aimes to compare the effectiveness of conventional and technology-enhanced training modalities. A pilot randomised controlled trial design will be used in a regional hospital in Queensland. Following baseline assessment, healthcare staff will be randomised to one of three groups: 1. traditional instructor-facilitated training; 2. high-fidelity mannequin training and continuous access to the training system to practise skills, and 3. high-fidelity mannequin training with no further access to the training system to practise skills. The primary outcome, cardiac compression skill levels, will be analysed using analysis of co-variance, adjusting for predictive co-variates. Secondary measures will be analysed using inferential statistics or presented descriptively.

This clinical trial is aimed to determine the effect of topically applied eye drops on focusing power of the eye and size of the eye's aperture (pupil size). This study consists of two arms. Four types of eye drops will be tested in each arm. Each different type of drops will be instilled only once and drops will be instilled only in one eye. After instillation of drops, participants will be monitored over a duration of 24 hours. During these 24 hours there will be a total of four scheduled visits. Only standard optometric procedures will be conducted during these visits. Measurements of focusing power of the eye and pupil size will be conducted using non-invasive instruments.

The purpose of this project is to investigate the feasibility and preliminary efficacy of exercise to increase prostate tumour blood flow and oxygenation as a means to improve the effectiveness of radiotherapy. Who is it for? You may be eligible to join this study if you are a male aged 18 years or over, have a diagnosis of localised or locally advanced prostate cancer, and are scheduled to receive radiotherapy. Study details: Participants in this study will receive a supervised exercise intervention for the duration of their radiotherapy treatment (6-8 weeks). The exercise program involves aerobic and resistance exercises undertaken 3 times per week in an exercise clinic setting. The exercise sessions are 20-30 minutes in duration and take place immediately before radiotherapy treatment sessions. All participants will complete assessments at baseline (i.e. before starting radiotherapy) and after completion of their radiotherapy treatment in order to evaluate tumour oxygenation, treatment side effects, aerobic fitness and functional capacity, as well as health-related quality of life. Additionally, participants will undergo further assessments to evaluate tumour blood flow and immune cell mobilisation in response to single exercise sessions. It is hoped that exercise will be found to be feasible during radiotherapy treatment for prostate cancer patients and that this research will contribute important new information that will be useful to clinicians in the management of prostate cancer.

Through the calculation of routinely collected patient data, we hope this study will demonstrate a numerical value which can be used to predict the success or failure of non-invasive ventilation. This is a form of respiratory support given to patients who are short of breath.

This study will assess the efficacy, cost effectiveness and sustainability of having on-site pharmacist in residential aged care facilities (RACFs), as part of the care team, to improve the quality of use of medicine and reduce hospitalisations among RACF residents. Improved quality use of medication can reduce medication related adverse effects and hospitalisations. The study design is a cluster randomised controlled trial with RACFs in the ACT comparing RACFs with an on-site pharmacist for 2 or 2.5 day a week for 1 year, or usual care (no on-site pharmacist). Findings will inform practice and policy, leading to benefits for RACF residents care, safety and health care budgets.

There is significant disparity in the current literature regarding outcomes of AF ablation between sexes. There is a strong male dominance in the data to date. Current literature comprises of small studies, with short follow-up and inconsistent outcomes. Based on the short term studies to date, women tend to present older and fair worse despite having less co-morbidities.

Disabling foot pain affects 24% of adults aged =45 years. Some episodes of foot pain may be related to inflammatory or degenerative changes and, as such, general practitioners refer patients to orthopaedic departments for surgical management. This model of care may be neither appropriate nor sufficient as many foot complaints referred to orthopaedic departments trigger a lengthy process that commonly does not result in an operation. Health units have utilised podiatrists to consult with patients on waiting-lists to ensure non-surgical interventions are provided before the patient sees a surgeon. These triage clinics appear to be successful, as the podiatrist progresses only those likely to require operative intervention, and therefore have face validity that they are effective. But given the uncontrolled nature, and potential for bias in previous studies, a formal clinical and economic evaluation, via a clinical trial is required to formally test their efficacy. Waiting-lists and chronic pain threaten health networks now and will continue to do so in the future. Without formal evaluation of the clinical and cost-effectiveness of triage clinics, executives, managers and administrators cannot make truly informed decisions on their effectiveness and where funding should be allocated along the patient journey. Depending on the outcome of this study, there may be radical (re)thinking of how patients are assessed and managed on foot/ankle waiting-lists. This may result in a more efficient, timely and cost-effective model of care for managing foot/ankle orthopaedic waiting-lists across Queensland Health networks, and more broadly across Australia.

This is a collaborative, study that aims to determine the relationship between reported alcohol intake and concentration of phosphatidylethanol (PEth) in washed erythrocytes and documented patient covariates. It comprises two sub-studies. One involves healthy participants who will record their alcohol intake for up to three weeks and provide up to four blood specimens. Among these will be a subgroup of participants who customarily taken no alcohol. The other sub-study involves healthy participants who will abstain from alcohol for four weeks and provide four blood specimens. There is no drug intervention and no other requirement for lifestyle change. The purpose of the research is to translate an assay for PEth into a useful clinical tool in the identification and management of alcohol-related disease.