ANZCTR search results

We aim to compare two bedside haemoglobin (Hb) measurement techniques (Rad-67™ Pulse CO-Oximeter® and HemoCue® with laboratory Hb measurements in women undergoing planned vaginal birth. Each woman will have a blood sample taken to measure Hb as part of routine care as well as a finger prick blood Hb sample (HemoCue®), and a monitor Hb measurement that is attached to the woman's finger (Rad-67™ Pulse CO-Oximeter®). The finger prick and monitor Hb measurements will be compared to the laboratory Hb sample to see if they give the same reading. The purpose of this study is to determine whether a bedside test of Hb is accurate enough to replace laboratory based Hb testing in pregnant women. The hypothesis is that these bedside tests will be able to replace laboratory Hb measurements.

Adequate communication and follow up of test results between radiologists and doctors is critical for patient care. However, in the emergency department (ED), up to 75% of test results are missed (Callen et al. 2015). The current trial examines the feasibility and effectiveness of an intervention aiming to improve the communication and actioning of radiology test results in an ED setting by using a secure electronic collaboration app, called myBeepr (www.mybeepr.com). References Callen, J., T. D. Giardina, H. Singh, L. Li, R. Paoloni, A. Georgiou, W. B. Runciman and J. I. Westbrook (2015). "Emergency physicians' views of direct notification of laboratory and radiology results to patients using the Internet: A multisite survey." Journal of Medical Internet Research 17(3): e60.

Smoking is the leading cause of preventable death in people with severe mental illness (SMI). Although smokers with SMI want to quit, tailored interventions are rarely delivered in practice. Quitlines are well placed but underutilised by this group. “Quitlink” will utilise peer workers within mental health services to engage smokers with SMI in a tailored Quitline intervention. 382 participants will be recruited across participating mental health services in Victoria. In addition to recruitment across participating mental health services in Victoria, recruitment will occur via community recruitment online across broader Victoria. All participants will receive a brief smoking cessation intervention. Participants will be randomly allocated to either no further intervention, or to the Quitlink intervention (proactively contacted by Quitline and offered a targeted smoking cessation counselling intervention with nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) provided over an 8 week period). All participants will be followed up at 2 months, 5 months and 8 months. We will also qualitatively examine facilitators and barriers to cessation in order to improve future interventions.

Children with asthma or recurrent respiratory symptoms are at an increased risk of developing respiratory complications such as bronchospasm in the perioperative period. These risks are higher in surgeries such as adenotonsillectomy. Seven out of ten children with both respiratory symptoms and airway inflammation experienced at least one respiratory complication compared with only 1 out of 10 children with respiratory symptoms but no active airway inflammation. We hypothesize that children with recurrent respiratory symptoms screened for the presence of airway inflammation using the non-invasive measurement of exhaled nitric oxide and randomised to receiving ICS (Fluticasone propionate 250mcg per day) for 14 days prior to their adenotonsillectomy will be at a lower risk of having respiratory complications in the perioperative period compared with those receiving routine clinical care.

The aim of this study is to evaluate the efficacy and cost-efficacy of a psychosocial intervention to treat emotional symptoms and increase social participation in anxious and/or depressed older adults, relative to current “best practice” transdiagnostic CBT. We predict that the enhanced program will lead to significantly greater reductions than the standard program on our primary outcome, diagnostic severity of anxiety and depression.

The development of a national clinical and DNA registry, AUS-SCAR, of SCAR patients with severe T cell-mediated drug hypersensitivities will allow investigators to (i) perform surveillance for new and emerging drug causality, (ii) develop clinical prediction rules, (iii) understand best-practice treatment approaches, (iv) discover genomic predictors that prevent SCAR onset and (v) improve long-term outcomes and medication safety.

The aim of this study is to determine whether contact lens discomfort can be reduced following the use of intense pulsed light to manage Meibomian gland dysfunction. We, the investigators, hypothesise that contact lens discomfort can be reduced by managing Meibomian gland dysfunction with intense pulsed light. This study will occur over 5 visits and participants will be monitored for comfort, Meibomian gland structure and function, inflammation and corneal nerve morphology.

This project is a pilot study aiming to examine the initial feasibility, acceptability and preliminary efficacy of a seven-week early intervention programme among a sample of very young children with emerging disruptive behaviours and their families. The empirically-supported PCIT protocol will be adapted to meet the needs of 12-24-month old children. In particular, the intervention under investigation involves an initial parent-only session, which focuses on teaching parents how to positively engage with their child. Parent(s) and children will then attend six-weekly 60-minute sessions, in which parents receive in-vivo coaching from a clinician using skills taught in the initial session, using a wireless headset from behind a one-way mirror. Parents will then be asked to complete daily 5-minute skills practice activities involving playtime with their child at home. It is hypothesized that families will show improvement in the primary outcomes at post-treatment and 6-month follow-up. Primary outcome measures include improvements in child disruptive behaviours, precursor markers of callous-unemotional (CU) behaviours (e.g., lack of empathy/ guilt, uncaring attitudes/behaviours), and parental stress and wellbeing.

This is a multisite single-blinded randomised controlled trial of 418 patients across three intensive care units in three acute hospitals to evaluate the clinical effectiveness of a heel off-loading boot (Prevalon TM) in reducing heel pressure injuries and preventing foot contractures in intensive care patients. Patients in ICU who meet the eligibility criteria will be allocated to one of two arms, either the intervention (PrevalonTM heel protector boot - https://sageproducts.com/prevalon-heel-protectors/) or the control (standard care - use of pillow/s for heel elevation). The trial design follows the Consolidated Standards of reporting Trials (CONSORT) protocol RCTs. Our hypothesis is patients who receive the intervention have a lower incidence of heel PIs and plantar flexion contractures compared to those patients who have standard care. The planned duration of this study is 18 months.

We hypothesis that chronic cough and vocal cord dysfunction are both manifestations of sensory neuropathy of the larynx. The Superior laryngeal nerve supplies the sensory supply of the larynx above the level of the vocal cords. We hypothesize that injection of the superior laryngeal nerve with a steroid and a local anaesthetic will treat the underlying neuropathy and result in reduced patient symptoms. In this study we aim to assess superior laryngeal nerve block in patients with chronic cough and/or VCD in a randomised double blind controlled study. Potential participants will be screened and treated for common causes of chronic cough. Participants with persistent symptoms will be offered enrollment within the trial and after enrollment will be randomized to receive a local anaesthetic with steroid nerve block or placebo (normal saline). Participant symptoms will be monitored with verified patient symptom questionnaires.