ANZCTR search results

People in treatment for substance use disorders have high rates of cognitive impairment. Problematic substance use is likely to be both a cause and an effect of cognitive impairment. Cognitive Remediation (CR) has been shown to improve cognitive functioning in other clinical populations but is rarely available in Alcohol and Other Drug (AOD) treatment settings. We will add a CR program to an existing AOD residential rehabilitation program and evaluate its effectiveness and feasibility in this setting. Participants are residents of Wattlegrove, a 3-month residential AOD rehabilitation program in Orange NSW. We will compare standard care with standard care + CR with a non-randomised allocation. The CR intervention will follow the Neuropsychological Educational Approach to Cognitive Remediation (NEAR; Medalia et al, 2009, 2017) and will involve three, hour-long group sessions per week for the duration of treatment. Each group session involves participants working through an individualised program of computerised CR exercises and a manualised group intervention which aims to link the computerised exercises with real life tasks. We aim to determine: (1) whether CR results in better cognitive, AOD, mental health, wellbeing and functional outcomes than standard care, and (2) the feasibility and costs of implementing a cognitive remediation program in a residential rehabilitation setting, for possible future incorporation into routine care at Wattlegrove and other AOD rehabilitation facilities.

The purpose of this study is to determine the acceptability of two different decision aids in assisting with making an informed decision about screening for prostate cancer. Who is it for? You may be eligible for this study if you are a male aged 45-60 years, who has not been diagnosed with prostate cancer. Study details Participants in this study will be randomised by chance to receive one of two online information sheets (referred to as ‘decision aids’). One version of the decision aid is short, while the other is slightly longer. Participants will then be asked to complete a questionnaire based on the information they have just received. It is hoped that this research will help determine which information tool will help better inform men about prostate cancer screening.

Study Aims This study aims to assess the effects of a supervised outpatient multidisciplinary therapy program, compared to standard care, on neurological and clinical decline in individuals with premanifest Huntington's disease (HD). Who is it for? You may be eligible to participate in this study if you are 21 years or older and have been diagnosed as gene positive for the HD mutation (>39 CAG repeats). Study Details This study is a controlled exploratory study. Participants will be allocated to either the multidisciplinary therapy group (Perth) or standard care group (Melbourne). Participants in the multidisciplinary therapy group will be asked to undertake thrice-weekly training sessions for two hours per session for nine months. Training sessions comprise cognitive and exercise training, dual tasking and lifestyle guidance. The standard care group will receive their normal care throughout the study. Participants will be assessed with brain imaging, cognitive, movement, mood, sleep, physical and cognitive activity and biological tests and questionnaires. Potential Study Outcomes It is hoped that the finding of this research project will highlight the therapeutic utility of multidisciplinary therapy programs for people living with HD and provide much needed data to apply for funding for a randomised controlled trial across Australia.

This will be an open-label, unblinded, dose-escalating study. Participants will consist of 24 CF patients (three treatment groups and one control group) who are about to start a standard 4-week course of inhaled TOBI dry powder for outpatient (home) treatment of Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection. Hypothesis: Inhalation of a dry powder chelator in combination with antibiotic therapy is safe and well tolerated in patients with cystic fibrosis

Primary total hip arthroplasty (THA) is an increasingly common procedure with 400331 procedures in Australia during 2016. This is 94.4% higher than the numbers undertaken in 2003. Literature suggests a revision rates ranging from 4% to 33% in this young population compared to 7%-15% for older patients. Loss of bone stock during primary THA may adversely affect subsequent revision THA. The purpose of this study was to compare preservation of acetabular bone stock between conventional THA and Hip resurfacing vs. robotic MAKO THA. We hypothesize that the robotic system would allow more precise reaming, leading to greater preservation of bone stock.

This research project is being conducted to investigate the safety, tolerability, and pharmacokinetics of single ascending dose DB-020 when administered via intratympanic injection to healthy adult volunteers.

This study aims to assess the efficacy of action video games (AVGs) in improving reading outcomes in children with dyslexia. Novel research in this area indicates that AVGs may be effective in improving reading because they improve spatial and temporal attention, which are known to be impaired in individuals with dyslexia. This is important because current treatment options do not benefit everyone and are often time-intensive, so alternative strategies are desperately needed. The study will use two AVG training protocols. One intervention group will play AVGs on a PC using a computer mouse. The other intervention group will use eye tracking to play the AVG with their eye movements. The manipulation between AVG training protocols will help us to better identify what processes may assist AVGs in improving reading. It is predicted that text reading skills will improve after only 2 weeks of AVG training, as compared to standard care treatment, in children with dyslexia.

Atrial fibrillation (AF) and other arrhythmias are common medical problems of increasing prevalence which are often identified and managed by General Practitioners (GPs). The aims of the survey and interview are to explore the views, knowledge and practices of GPs with respect to cardiac arrhythmias, and additionally to explore the role of mobile health devices in screening. The information is important to health policy makers, education providers and professional bodies.

MAT is a multicentre, randomised, placebo-controlled trial to assess if 1500 mg of metformin per day will reduce Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm (AAA)-related events in patients with small AAAs who do not have diabetes. In order to allow reliable assessment of any beneficial effects of metformin on important AAA outcomes, including repair or AAA mortality, follow-up will occur until 616 primary outcome events have been accrued (estimated to require a median of ~3.5 years follow-up). In order to study 1,954 people with small AAA for ~3.5 years at low cost, MAT is streamlined to minimise extra work on collaborating doctors and hospitals. Only essential data will be collected and entered directly into a database. If it can be reliably demonstrated that metformin reduces the risk of AAA events in people with small AAA who do not have diabetes, then this would be relevant to some tens of millions of people worldwide who are currently receiving no treatment of their AAA. This important international study is being led by the Central Coordinating Centre at the Queensland Research Centre for Peripheral Vascular Disease.

This study is a multi-centre, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled study evaluating safety, tolerability, efficacy and PK of individually established efficacious/tolerated doses of EP1 compared to placebo. EP1 contains Cannabidiol (CBD) and Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) in a ratio of approximately 20:1. The study will aim to determine if EP1 is an effective treatment for refractory epilepsy in children, adolescents and young adults by comparing different doses of EP1 against a placebo by measuring seizure frequency and character. Safety will also be measured over a long term open-label extension of the study for a year after the double blind phase.