ANZCTR search results

The purpose of the study is to investigate if completing an online program for perfectionism reduces symptoms of perfectionism, anxiety, depression, eating disorders, and non-suicidal self-injury, and increases well-being in adolescents. It is expected that adolescents who do the online program will have greater reductions in perfectionism, symptoms of anxiety, depression, eating disorders, and non-suicidal self-injury, and increases in well-being than adolescents not doing the program. It is also expected that the symptoms will remain reduced 3 and 6 months after the program finishes. Participants will be randomised into one of two groups; the online program for perfectionism group or a waitlist control group. Those in the online program for perfectionism group will be given access to the online program where they will log in once a week for eight weeks (8 modules in total). The program is based on the second edition of the book "Overcoming Perfectionism: A self-help guide using cognitive behavioural techniques" (Shafran, Egan, & Wade, 2018). Participants doing the online program for perfectionism will submit one homework sheet for each module and will receive brief personalised feedback on their work. Participants in the waitlist control group will be given the option to complete the program once data collection has finished.

Background: Osteoarthritis (OA) is a common, painful and disabling condition. Venlafaxine, a centrally acting antidepressant, has demonstrated analgesic effects in other chronic pain conditions. Primary aim: To determine the effectiveness, safety and tolerability of venlafaxine (75-150mg daily) compared to placebo in reducing pain in knee OA patients using a randomised, placebo-controlled double-blind design over 12-week. Primary hypothesis: Compared with placebo, in knee OA pain patients, 12-week treatment with venlafaxine will lead to a 10mm reduction in pain (assessed by 100mm visual analogue scale (VAS)). Significance and Innovation: Positive results will have a substantial and immediate impact on OA pain management. It will provide compelling evidence that venlafaxine can reduce pain in OA patients. Such findings can be easily translatable into clinical practice, as venlafaxine is low cost, well tolerated and currently available in Australia.

This study aims to the efficacy of using an online platform to deliver a group-based physical activity intervention for first responders (police, fire and ambulance workers) and their partners/carers. By nature of their occupation which involves repeated exposure to potentially traumatic events, first responders are at a significantly increased risk of experiencing poor mental and physical health, including developing depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder, as well as premature cardiovascular disease. These health conditions are also associated with lower levels of physical activity and higher levels of sedentary behaviour. This study will recruit a convenience sample of self-identified sedentary first responders and their self-selected support partners to a 10-week PA program delivered through a private Facebook group. We will deliver education on pre-determined topics related to PA and diet and provide participants with an activity tracker (Fitbit). Peer support members from previous iterations of the intervention will also help deliver the content. Promoting PA among first-responders may help to reduce the burden of mental and physical ill health facing this underserviced population. Results may also have implications for the provision of PA in rural and remote settings.

Melatonin has multiple therapeutic benefits. It has anti-oxidant and anti-hypertensive properties, it synchronises the circadian system and also promotes sleep. These are all pathways that could be targeted to slow cognitive decline. Previous randomised controlled studies have all targeted patients with developed dementia/AD in whom the cognitive decline may be too far advanced to modify clinical trajectory. We therefore propose using Melatonin in participants with Mild Cognitive Impairment (the prodromal phase of dementia) who report reduced sleep quality to target modifiable risk factors in this population at risk of for future cognitive decline. The study participants will be 40 older adults (aged 60-80 years) with multi-domain Mild Cognitive Impairment (non-amnestic or amnestic) with subjective sleep disturbance. Participants will be randomised to either daily melatonin or placebo, but both the participants and the experimenters will be blind to which treatment they are on. Primary outcomes include feasibility, acceptability and adherence. Secondary outcomes include the effect of melatonin on brain oxidative stress and sleep disturbance while neurocognition, memory, glucose, mood, blood pressure and other inflammatory biomarkers will also be measured.

The purpose of this study is to compare blockade of the adductor canal and the posterior branch of the obturator nerve to blockade of the femoral nerve for patients undergoing arthroscopic anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction. The primary outcome is pain, measured as opioid consumption and pain scores during the first 24 postoperative hours. The secondary outcome is quadriceps strength.

The primary aim of the study is to reduce the number of ED re-presentations in the target population. Specifically, the aim of this study is to determine whether there are differences in outcomes for individuals who present to ED with non-cardiac chest pain and receive psychological intervention vs those who receive usual care, in relation to ED re-presentations over a 6-month period. The secondary aim is to study if the intervention will result in an improvement in other patient outcomes, such as symptomatology, the quality of life and reduction in psychological distress and whether or not this intervention is cost effective This is a Single-blind randomised controlled trial in which the assessor is blind to treatment vs standard care condition. All individuals who meet the selection criteria will be invited to participate in the research. Consenting participants who meet the selection criteria, will be randomly allocated to either -: A) Psychological treatment group consisting of 6 sessions of psychotherapy over 6-8 weeks, which will be conducted by a fully qualified Psychologist (Director of Psychology, THHS) B) Usual care/ Wait list controls (Wait list controls have been included to ensure that all patients in the trial have access to treatment eventually should they so desire, since this treatment is evidence based) Outcomes will be assessed for both groups at baseline, 8 weeks; 16 weeks and 24 weeks.

Musculoskeletal conditions, low back pain, neck pain/whiplash and osteoarthritis of the knee are one of the highest contributors to years lost to disease. The PACE intervention aims to identify patients at risk of poor prognosis to improve their management in primary health care settings. Patients identified as low risk will receive minimal intervention (up to 3 sessions of guideline based care advice and exercises). Those identified as medium to high risk will be referred to a specialist musculoskeletal clinician who will undertake a more complex examination of individual physical, psychological and pain factors. The specialist clinician will then liaise with the patient and the primary health care practitioner to decide further care. We hypothesize that implementation of this novel musculoskeletal clinical care pathway will result in improved health outcomes and be more cost-effective. If successful PACE will be a useful addition to primary care musculoskeletal care management.. This study will include embedded observational studies that will evaluate patient perceptions, experience, health professional practice and inter-professional collaboration

Many people with Huntington’s disease (HD) experience problems with motivation, often referred to as “apathy”. This is thought to be because of how HD affects the frontal lobes of the brain. There are currently no effective treatments for apathy in HD. Recent research has looked at whether non-invasive brain stimulation can improve motivation in people experiencing other neurological conditions (e.g., stroke) with some promising results. The type of brain changes caused by HD mean that a gentle, non-invasive type of brain stimulation called transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) may be most effective. But there are different ways that tACS can be used, and some ways may be more effective than others. The purpose of this project is to investigate the best way of using tACS so that it changes brain activity and improves performance on a motivation task in people with HD as well as people without HD. If we can find an effective way of using tACS, then this may help in the development of interventions for reduced motivation in HD. This research project requires participants to attend three separate testing sessions during which they receive 20 minutes of tACS, have their brain activity recorded via EEG, and complete a task exploring motivation. During each session participants receive tACS targeting a different frequency. By frequency, we mean electrical brain waves. In one session they receive tACS at a low frequency (i.e., in the “delta” frequency range). In another session they receive tACS set at a middle frequency (i.e., in the “alpha” frequency range). In a third session they will receive sham (i.e., placebo) tACS.

Previous studies have shown that short term (3-7days) overfeeding and overfeeding with high fat (with predominantly saturated fat) can lead to increased fasting glucose, impaired glucose tolerance as well as impaired insulin sensitivity in humans. But it is not known if the impaired glucose tolerance induced by short term high fat overfeeding is linked to impaired microvascular blood flow in skeletal muscle and adipose tissue. This is what we aim to test in this study. We hypothesise that 7 days of overfeeding will impair skeletal muscle and adipose microvascular blood flow and contribute to glucose tolerance.

The aim of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of ecofit, which is an innovative community-based multi-component physical activity intervention that promotes aerobic and resistance-based physical activity through smartphone technology, social support and recently installed outdoor exercise equipment in Newcastle area, NSW, Australia. Participants in the intervention group will have access to the ecofit smartphone app, an introductory group session and up to 10 exercise locations, whereas the 'wait-list' control group only have access to the exercise locations. To assess the effectiveness of ecofit program, the intervention group will be compared to a 'wait-list' control group. We will measure upper and lower body muscular fitness (co-primary outcomes) and a host of secondary outcomes at baseline, 3- and 9-months.