ANZCTR search results

This research proposal will explore the effectiveness of using the NPS MedicineWise mobile phone application in increasing the medication adherence in chronic heart failure. In increasing the medication adherence, it is expected that patients will be able to decrease the substantial burden on healthcare services.

This study aims to evaluate the safety and preliminary efficacy of a drug called Avelumab in combination with chemotherapy plus radiotherapy (CRT) in patients with resectable oesophageal/ gastro-oesophageal junction (GOJ) adenocarcinoma. Who is it for? You may be eligible to join this study if you are aged 18 years or more, and have a confirmed diagnosis of early or local gastro-oesophageal junction or oesophageal adenocarcinoma. Study details All participants in this study will receive the drug Avelumab in addition to chemoradiotherapy (CRT). Patients will receive 5 weeks of carboplatin-paclitaxel-Radiotherapy. Avelumab will be given as intravenous infusion at the dose of 10mg/kg over 60 minutes in 250mL Sodium Chloride 0.9% every 2 weeks concurrently with CRT and then for 2 more cycles (total 5 cycles of Avelumab; 3 concurrently and 2 cycles as single agent) pre surgery. Surgery will be carried out 6-8 weeks post completion of the CRT component. After surgery patients will then be followed up every 3 months for 2 years then 6 monthly for one year. Standard of care imaging results will be collected as well as blood tests. It is hoped that this research will show support for improved patient outcomes by using an immunotherapy.

Participants were ordinary patients of real world clinics. Participants in both groups received two follow-up hearing aid fitting consultations (face-to-face and remote respectively delivered at the clinic and at participant's home/office), and a third consultation at their homes for outcome assessment where interventions were applied to address their individual needs. A combination of measures were used to assess changes in participants' communication, fitting, aspects of quality of life, service and hearing aid aspects, outcomes that are already part of routine clinical procedures. Objective: To compare outcomes of the follow-up consultations for hearing aid fittings conducted remotely by telehealth to those conducted face-to-face by conventional consultations, utilizing subjective measures. The overall hypothesis of this study is that participants’ outcomes with remote consultation will not significantly differ from those with face-to-face consultation.

Following traumatic brain injury, patients frequently enter a state of post-traumatic amnesia and may become agitated. Agitation is threatening to staff and families, impacts access to treatment and is associated with longer hospital stays. Atypical antipsychotics are prevalent in the management of agitation despite a complete lack of well-designed studies underpinning their use in treating agitation in traumatic brain injury. We hypothesise that patients in post-traumatic amnesia, exhibiting agitation who are administered the atypical antipsychotic olanzapine will show lower levels of agitation than those administered placebo.

Iron-deficiency anaemia (IDA) affects approximately 1 in 7 Australian pregnant women, and optimal treatment for improving maternal wellbeing and decreasing blood transfusion remains uncertain. An issue with prior randomised trials of IV versus oral iron is lack of patient and clinician blinding to treatment received, so the primary aim of this study is therefore to determine the feasibility and effectiveness of blinding treatment allocation to IV iron or saline placebo infusion. Participants will be pregnant women with iron deficiency anaemia between 26 weeks and 33 weeks gestation, and will either be given IV iron and placebo capsules or iron capsules and placebo IV. It is expected that using an opaque sleeve covering the syringe and giving set when administering IV iron or saline placebo, followed by matching placebo or active iron oral tablets, respectively, is feasible and effective.

This project tests whether a structured medicines reconciliation service (DCMedsRec) delivered by a community pharmacy soon after hospital discharge may reduce the risk of re-admission within 30 days. This randomised controlled trial will compare the rates of readmission of those receiving the DCMedsRec with others receiving usual care after discharge. Participants receiving the DCMedsRec service will have a structured interview with a pharmacist in a community pharmacy where, using My health record and other sources, the correct medicines and doses will be identified, old medicines and prescriptions may be disposed of, understanding of when and how to take medicines may be confirmed and any questions be answered. It is expected that DCMedsRec will improve medicines use and adherence and reduce the risk of problems that lead to re-admission.

Patients with kidney failure on haemodialysis machines depend on a well-functioning surgically-created enlarged blood vessel in their arm, known as an arterio-venous fistula (AVF). These AVF can develop narrowings, which may progress to complete closure and failure, creating a surgical emergency. Every dialysis, the patient and their nurse check that the fistula is well-functioning by simple physical examination: i.e. can they feel a strong vibration and pulse; can they hear a loud noise with a stethoscope? If concerned, then a patient is referred for a formal Doppler study appointment by a trained technician, using a specialised machine. This study aims to assess whether a simple electronic skin sensor known as an accelerometer (similar to a "FitBit") can detect narrowings inside the AV fistula, by comparing the accelerometer signal waveforms with a concurrent formal Doppler study. We aim to study 60 patients with a range of well- and poorly-functioning AVF's to establish whether the technique is feasible and reliable (i.e. sensitive and specific).

This study will evaluate the safety and efficacy of venetoclax alone or in combination with low-dose cytarabine (LDAC) for Acute Myeloid Leukemia Who is it for? You may be eligible to join this study if you are aged 16 and above and have Acute Myeloid Leukemia in first complete remission. Study details This study is part of the International AML Platform Consortium. Participants in this study will be randomly allocated (by chance) to one of three treatment groups. Participants in one group will receive standard care which is generally observation. Participants in the other groups will receive the drug Venetoclax daily for a total of 24 months or Venetoclax in combination with low-dose cytarabine (LDAC) for a total of 24 months. As part of the study, participants will have blood tests at the start of each cycle (every 28 days) as well as additional blood tests depending on the treatment arm you have been randomised to. These additional blood tests are to monitor the level of neutrophils (type of white blood cell that is important in fighting infection) and platelets (platelets help your blood clot) We hope that the results from this trial will be used to help these new treatments which may be better for people with AML than what is currently available become accessible to the general population at faster than the normal process.

This study will look at a new method for testing muscle function and outcome following knee surgery. The new method uses a bicycle power meter to test muscle power before and after surgery. Ninety patients who are having knee surgery will be tested before and after surgery to look for improvements in muscle power and whether this corresponds with self-reported function. We hypothesise that the bike power meter is a reliable and easy test to look at patient outcome following knee surgery. Results will help surgeons in identifying patients with poor recovery so that more rehabilitation can be provided to improve their surgery outcome.

The Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District has twice the national prevalence of chronic kidney disease. Dietary modification plays a key part in preventing progression of kidney disease and managing the complications of end stage kidney disease. Recent research has indicated that inadequate health literacy is common in patients with kidney disease and they have particular problems understanding health information. Local research using a health literacy sensitive question prompt sheet has also found a significant improvement in clinic participation and patient centredness of the consultation. However little is known if this translates into improved patient reported and clinical outcomes. Thus the objectives of this project are to: 1. Evaluate the impact on clinical outcomes of a redesigned health literacy sensitive model of care in the renal dietetic clinics 2. Evaluate the impact of the new model of care on patient reported outcomes 3. Evaluate patient and dietitian satisfaction with the new model of care 4. Make recommendations for ongoing practice