ANZCTR search results

The purpose of the study is to identify the presence of inflammation in the brains of boxers if any, by comparing the PET/MRI images of participants from the boxer group to the ones from the non-boxing control group and MS patients (positive control group). To do this, the trial will quantify the uptake of the PET tracer [18F]PBR111 as an indicator of neuroinflammation in the three groups. Having this kind of advanced brain imaging available in Brisbane could become very important for monitoring the brain health not just of boxers, but also players in many other contact sports like rugby union or rugby league. Most importantly, this research may serve as a strong background in future PET studies of brain inflammation in cases of AD, MS and other brain disorders.

The Australian Type 2 Diabetes Prevention Program (AUS 2 Prevent) is a year-long lifestyle change program comprising physical activity and diet sessions. It is a community-based program that aim to prevent or delay diabetes incidence in adults at high risk of developing type 2 diabetes in Australian community. We hope this program will be an effective, feasible and acceptable diabetes prevention program in the Australian community. We are in the process of analysis the data and the final publications should be ready by early 2026.

The purpose of the feasibility study is to examine speech perception outcomes (quiet and noise) and safety (adverse events and adverse device effects) with the cochlear implant in eleven newly implanted adults who meet the eligibility criteria for the study.

Ultrasound assessment has improved the safety and accuracy of pleural procedures. Highly portable handheld ultrasound technology been developed, however has not been validated for this purpose. The aim of this study is to examine the ability of handheld ultrasound to determine a safe site for pleurocentesis. We hypothesize that the handheld ultrasound will be equivalent to the standard ultrasound.

Knee injuries are very prevalent and affect individuals everyday. Some knee injuries, like an anterior cruciate ligament tear (ACL) can result in irreversible damage where only a small portion of the individuals are able to come back to pre-injury level, despite surgery and physical therapy. As a result, injury prevention knee braces emerged as a way of protecting the knees from injuries during high risk activities like sports. The effectiveness of these braces have been controversial and we aim to study the braces in a more realistic environment by using a virtual reality system that can fully immerse our subjects and deliver unanticipated perturbations while the subjects are safely harnessed.

This is a randomised, placebo controlled cross-over study to assess the efficacy and safety of Ziziphus spinosa seeds in people with insomnia compared to placebo. This study aims to determine if Ziziphus spinosa seeds can improve sleep in people with insomnia, in terms of sleep quality, quantity, and associated daytime symptoms; and to determine its safety profile for insomnia. It is expected that Ziziphus spinosa seeds will alleviate some significant symptoms of insomnia and improve sleep quality, quantity, and associated daytime symptoms.The study integrates rigorous clinical trial design and research methodology and will guide the appropriate use of Chinese herbal medicine in clinical practice.

High intake of discretionary food and drinks contribute to the excessive burden of chronic disease experienced by Indigenous Australians living in remote Australia. In collaboration with the Arnhem Land Progress Aboriginal Corporation (ALPA; who manage 25 stores in remote Australia) we will test an intervention to reduce sales of discretionary products in remote Australian communities. Stores randomised to the intervention group will be supported by ALPA to reduce merchandising (i.e., availability and display) of four food categories (sugar, sugar sweetened beverages, sweet biscuits and confectionery) that in total provide 73% of discretionary foods and 90% of free sugars. The remaining stores (50% of total) will serve as controls. Electronic store sales data will be collected over the baseline period, 12-week intervention period and 24-week post intervention to objectively assess change in healthiness of purchases and gross store profit. This research will greatly advance our understanding of how the retail food environment can be used to improve population level dietary intake globally. We hypothesise that intervention stores will have a significant reduction in free sugars from food and drinks purchased (measured using sales data) compared with control stores over the 12 weeks of strategy compared to the baseline and this will be sustained over the 24 weeks post end of the intervention.

The Dizzy PT project is looking at the feasibility of a new model of service, whereby a vestibular trained Physiotherapist is able to assess and treat patients in the ED who are presenting with dizziness, vertigo or imbalance. The feasibility of this will be established by comparing the new model (intervention period) with current practice (control period). We hypothesise that not only will the new model of care be feasible, it will also provide better outcomes for these patients, and improve adherence to evidence-based best practice clinical care.

Depression is common in patients who have advanced life-limiting illness. There are significant time pressures for antidepressants to have rapid-onset effect in some palliative care patients. Most antidepressants, due to their slow onset of action, have limited therapeutic benefits in patients with extremely short prognoses or those with severe depression that require rapid effect while waiting for the typical antidepressants to take effect. In the psychiatry literature, subanaesthetic doses of ketamine are emerging as a novel rapid-onset antidepressant for treatment resistant major depression with high response rates, though having short-lived effect. There has been no similar trial done using ketamine to treat even de novo depression in the population with advanced life-limiting illness. There is a need to explore the activity of ketamine in palliative care patients, particularly those with very limited prognosis and/or severe depression that require immediate intervention where typical antidepressants are of limited utility for depression. Further evidence may potentially allow ketamine to be used to treat severe depression in patients with very limited but uncertain prognosis (e.g. in the range of weeks) and be considered as a bridging therapy for those who have a longer prognosis for the typical antidepressants to have effects. Prior to researchers committing to a larger phase 2/3 double blinded, cross over, randomised controlled trial, testing the activity of ketamine as antidepressant in the palliative care population, a feasibility study will be conducted with the aim to investigate: the number of patients who participate in, and subsequently complete, the ketamine intervention; the potential effects of ketamine; and the safety and tolerability of ketamine in this population. Patients known to the palliative care services in the acute hospital, palliative care units or in the community with advanced life limiting illness and major depressive disorder in Australia will be included in this study. The intervention is an individually tailored subcutaneous infusion of ketamine, given at weekly intervals by response, commencing with 0.1-0.4mg/kg over 2 hours, up to 4 doses (4 weeks) with the maximal dose of 0.4mg/kg. This is followed by 4 weeks of follow up. Commencement and titration of a typical antidepressant for depression by the treating clinical team’s choice if clinically appropriate (given 48 hours apart from ketamine administration) is allowed for ethical reasons. Primary Outcome is the number of palliative care patients completing through each stage of the study. Main secondary outcomes include serious side effects (CTCAE), psychotomimetic and dissociative symptoms (BPRS/CADSS), depression score (MADRS), quality of life score (Q-LES-Q-SF) and Numeric Pain Rating Scale.

In a series of preliminary studies we initially developed a 12-item questionnaire known as the Frequency of Actions and Thoughts Scale (FATS; Terides et al., 2018; Terides et al., 2016) which measures coping skills and behaviours. The FATS can be administered inside and outside of therapy, and on a very frequent basis. It is highly acceptable for people experiencing distress and is psychometrically sound. Evidence for the utility of the FATS was strong, indicating that coping skills use and the practice of certain behaviours, measured using the FATS, is closely related to emotional wellbeing – both during and after therapy. We have begun a programme of research to replicate and extend this early work. We have recently conducted a survey with more than 3,000 Australian respondents, further testing the relationship between behaviours, activities, symptoms of mood, anxiety, and levels of satisfaction with life. This survey included a larger sample of questions than used in the FATS. The results of this survey support our model that there are sets of core activities and everyday behaviours strongly associated with emotional health. We have included these key behaviours and activities in the Things You Do Questionnaire (TYDQ), which we believe can predict symptoms of anxiety and depression and, conversely, satisfaction with life. During the present study we want to examine the relationship between everyday activities and behaviours (as measured by the TYDQ) and reductions in symptoms of anxiety and depression associated with treatment. We wish to explore whether there are certain activities and behaviours that are more related to symptoms of anxiety and depression and that change more during during treatment. Thus, the purpose of this study is not specifically to evaluate the Wellbeing Course; instead we will be using it as a means to explore the relationship between certain behaviours and emotional wellbeing, and to further evaluate and develop the TYDQ.