ANZCTR search results

Pain is one of the most detrimental non-motor symptoms of Parkinson’s disease (PD), with up to 85% of people with PD experiencing pain in some form. Despite this, pain is often undiagnosed and frequently overlooked by clinicians and other healthcare professionals, leading to a lack of treatment (Ford, 2010). This study seeks to test the efficacy of a non-invasive brain stimulation technique (tDCS) for the treatment of pain. This treatment has resulted in improvement of pain in people with Multiple Sclerosis and fibromyalgia. It is hypothesised that tDCS will reduce pain in PD.

Singing Cords is a peer-led therapeutic group singing program for people with spinal cord injury. Spinal cord injury of the neck region impairs the persons’ ability to breathe deeply, raise their voice and cough to clear their airways placing them at high risk of respiratory infections. Group singing has been found to enhance mood, social connectedness, breathing function and voice projection in people with neurological dysfunction. This three month program will build on existing evidence by piloting a multi-disciplinary peer led structured program led by a vocal coach and professional singer who has a spinal cord injury. The teams aims to determine if this form of rehabilitation is of benefit and can be incorporated into the existing model of rehabilitation.

To combat the global burden of obesity and its co-morbidities, a major challenge lies in the development of effective therapies that increase fullness and satiety, and result in improvements in blood glucose control, while lacking adverse effects that are often associated with current therapies. Meal ingestion brings about changes in GI functions that are associated with slowing of gastric emptying, gut hormone release, regulation of blood glucose and energy intake. Among all three macro-nutrients, lipid seems to be the most potent. The effects of fat on gastric emptying, APD motility, gut hormones, energy intake, and blood glucose rely on fat digestion products, namely fatty acids, are an essential requirement for intestinal fat sensing. Several studies have demonstrated effects of C12 on GI functions and energy intake. However, the effects of orally ingested C12 on the suppression of appetite over a period of time (for example, potential hunger-suppressant effects in the lead-up to meal ingestion), or its effects on gut hormones, gastric emptying of a meal and the relationship with postprandial blood glucose in both normal-weight and obese people remain unknown.

The aim of this research is to confirm the safety and test the effect of EU-C-001 on reducing raised pressure in the brain. Patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI) will receive the best standard of care for their condition, and will also receive one of three different treatment levels of EU-C-001 or a placebo. The hypothesis is that the patients receiving EU-C-001 will have a stronger reduction in the pressure in the brain than patients who receive the placebo treatment.

Maintaining blood glucose within a narrow range is a key target for individuals with Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Despite the universal acknowledgement of exercise as an important component in the management plan for T2DM individuals, the importance of exercise timing relative to meals and time of day, has only recently been considered. Therefore, this project aims to establish whether post-meal exercise training in the morning or evening is more effective on glucose control in individuals with T2DM. We hypothesise that 12-weeks of exercise training will significantly improve glycaemic control and postprandial glucose responses, with the performance of evening exercise being associated with greater improvements when compared to morning exercise.

A recent audit of quality of recovery following hip replacement at Hollywood Hospital indicated that a proportion of patients experience significant pain in the 1st 24h following surgery. The aim of this study is to evaluate the efficacy a new nerve block termed the erector spinae block in reducing pain in the first 24h following hip replacement . A pilot audit of this nerve block technique in 33 patients at Hollywood found it to be safe and effective in reducing pain without any compromise to patient mobility.

Most patients are discharged following a presentation to an emergency department. There is very little research regarding this heterogeneous populations’ needs post discharge. Cabrini’s nurse telephone follow-up program offers an opportunity to contact these patients, in order to better understand their concerns and provide background for future policy development. The goal of the study is to create a better understanding of the needs of patients post-discharge from Cabrini emergency department. It is likely that the needs determined from the Cabrini population are similar to the needs of discharged patients from other EDs. It also aims to provide quantitative data on telephone follow-up program and describe the mode of successful patient contact. This study will be a prospective, observational study, collecting data from Cabrini’s nurse telephone follow-up program over the period of 6 months. Patients are included if they are eligible for the existing program and were discharged from the emergency department within the allocated timeframe. Demographic data will be gathered from hospital’s new whiteboard platform software (Imatis) that will source its information from Patient Administrator System (PAS) and other hospital databases. The data will be analysed and a descriptive paper submitted to various biomedical journals. This study aims to describe patients needs post-discharge from ED which may influence future policies and research about discharge safety and discharge processes. Furthermore, it may also provide some input into follow-up policies for medical administration.

To determine the acceptability and feasibility of providing the Omo Neurexa Shoulder Orthosis as an early intervention management strategy for protection of the shoulder joint post stroke compared to current care. The aim is to inform a future Randomised Control Trial to compare these two products and patient outcomes.

The primary aim of this trial is to compare the effectiveness of face-to-face physiotherapy with a supported home exercise program delivered through an App. The trial will determine whether a 6-week supported home exercise programme provides outcomes as good or better than (i.e., not inferior to) an equivalent period of face-to-face physiotherapy for the treatment of a wide range of musculoskeletal conditions. This model of care could provide an accessible and cost-effective way of managing musculoskeletal conditions that is particularly relevant in Australia where the population is geographically disbursed and access to physiotherapy healthcare limited.

For primary school aged children with neurologically based conditions requiring high level of support and care, locomotor training (walk training) appears to be a feasible intervention to improving functional mobility. For younger children, engagement is critical so interventions need to be functionally meaningful and immersed within an activity based framework that encourages play and participation. This is particularly important as children prepare to go to kindy or preprimary school. Given the acceptability of intensive locomotor training for school aged children with cerebral palsy and the importance of early intervention for children with neurologically based conditions and injuries, this research project aims to investigate if locomotor training immersed in an activity based framework is equally as feasible in children with neurologically based conditions and injuries aged between 2 and 5 years.