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Peak onset for depression occurs during adolescence and young adulthood, with one in five young people experiencing a clinical depressive episode by the age of 18. Both objective and subjective cognitive difficulties such as poor concentration and memory are features of depression in young people. Cognitive difficulties in depression contribute to everyday functioning difficulties. Managing cognitive issues is therefore an important part of treatment. One potentially useful method of providing information on, and strategies for management of cognitive difficulties, is through fact sheet provision during routine clinical care. Nevertheless, it is currently unclear whether fact sheets are an acceptable and safe method of providing information about cognition to young people with depression, or whether this has the potential to be useful for increasing awareness and self-management strategies. The aim of this study is to investigate the acceptability, safety and potential effectiveness of a cognition fact sheet for young people receiving treatment for depression. If found to be acceptable, safe and potentially useful, the utility of a fact sheet could be further explored in a larger trial with a controlled comparison group.

There has been an increase in the number of discharges against medical advice for endoscopic procedures in recent times and given this, patients could be at significant risk when discharging unsupervised from the clinical environment. As many patients now receive propofol as the sole agent for sedational anaesthesia for endoscopic procedures, we decided to conduct a study that assesses the cognitive and motor function of patients before and after propofol only anaesthesia in this clinical setting. We did this by using two computer tests called the SART and SOPT, which are validated to a BAL of 0.05 and were completed by patients prior to and again one hour after their procedure. We also conduced the same battery of tests on volunteers not receiving propofol to assess for any learning bias obtained by participants completing the test at one hour intervals. From this study, we aim to determine the level of cognitive impairment 1 hour post propofol only anaesthesia for endoscopic procedures, if any, which may help with discharge planning for patients in the future.

During open-heart surgery, gaseous micro-emboli (small gas bubbles) are commonly seen in the heart and bloodstream. This is thought to be associated with post-operative cognitive decline. To minimize this, it is common practice to insufflate the heart cavity with dry carbon dioxide (CO2) via a small tube. It is believed that CO2 causes less gaseous micro-emboli because it is denser and more soluble than air. However, dry and cold CO2 insufflation can cause tissue damage. A more sophisticated device, called the HumiGardTM system, is currently available in the market. It allows a continuous flow of warm and humidified CO2 to be insufflated via a gas diffuser into the heart cavity. In this study, we would like to test if warm and humidified CO2 will reduce the amount of tissue damage and also the number of micro-emboli travelling within the heart and to the brain, when compared to dry and cold CO2 insufflation.

The human microbiome is known to have a major impact on human health. Pregnancy is a unique state where enormous hormonal, metabolic, immune and cardiovascular changes occur. We will assess the changes occurring in the microbiome in association to dietary changes at stages throughout this critical period of a mother and child’s life in response to these changes. Samples of the microbiome during pregnancy (faecal, oral, and vaginal) and after birth (placental, breastmilk, meconium) will be assessed to determine a link between pregnancy outcome and disease. We will study each participant during her pregnancy and for 1 year post partum.

This study investigates the effect of doxycycline, a commonly used antibiotic, on reducing heart muscle injury when given before angioplasty and stenting of the coronary artery is performed. Patients will be assessed with cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (the current gold-standard test) to determine the amount of heart muscle damage and heart function. Doxycycline is an inexpensive antibiotic that has numerous other beneficial effects, which might make it useful as an additional therapy for the emergent treatment of patients presenting with heart attacks. This medication has been used safely in adults for various infectious disease and has been tested in critically ill patients and found to be safe. If doxycycline can help lessen heart muscle injury and preserve heart function, it could change the way heart attacks are currently treated. Furthermore, it will be a very cost-effective add-on therapy.

This project investigates the effectiveness of a telehealth delivered, evidence-based driving cessation intervention for people with dementia and their family members who are retiring from driving, through a cluster randomised controlled trial. Stopping driving impacts health and quality of life for people with dementia and their care partners, and poses considerable challenges to health professionals who monitor driving issues. Without intensive practical and emotional support to plan for, and eventually, cease driving, people with dementia are at high risk for depression, anxiety, grief, social isolation, unsafe and unlicensed driving and injury. Telehealth or telemedicine – the transmission of clinical health care using telecommunication and information technologies – has been successfully used across a variety of practice contexts in rural and remote settings. It has been shown to improve access to health care for people living in geographically isolated areas - highly relevant for Australia’s dispersed population. Additionally, for the growing numbers of older people living with dementia and their carers who wish to remain in their own homes for as long as possible, telehealth provides important health services which might otherwise be difficult to access in-home and cost-saving advantages over traditional face-to-face delivery. Videoconferencing eliminates the need to travel for treatment, which is important in the context of driving cessation. The CarFreeMe program is a comprehensive support- and education-based intervention targeted at people with dementia and their care partners and family members to manage the transition from driving to non-driving status. CarFreeMe for people with dementia is a translation of a proven driving cessation intervention for people without cognitive decline (formerly UQDrive) and is based on what people who have experienced driving cessation said that they needed to adjust, and stay active and engaged. The intervention is unique in that it is focused on both the practical and emotional issues that are experienced as a result of driving cessation. The intervention includes seven modules that cover education and practical support, delivered by an experienced health professional who is trained in CarFreeMe delivery. In the telehealth format, health professionals (e.g. occupational therapists, psychologists) will be trained to deliver aspects of the intervention directly via a secure telehealth videoconferencing app at the client end, and delivering the program via the telerehabilitation clinic at The University of Queensland (UQ) in Brisbane. The telehealth intervention is designed to be flexible. The individualised program could involve a combination of one-to-one sessions and virtual groups, practical outings and activities with the support of a local experienced health professional, as well as home-based independent written and verbal activities in a provided work book.

The Health Online for Teens (HOT) program is a 14-week multi-disciplinary healthy lifestyle and wellbeing program delivered via Moodle Mobile and a new innovative chatbot (HOT-BOT). HOT consists of diet, physical activity, and wellbeing educational modules. The aims of the program are to improve adolescent lifestyle through reducing obesity risk factors of poor diet and insufficient activity. This project involves pilot testing feasibility, engagement and accessibility, and changes in pre-post outcomes of interest (e.g. diet, physical activity measures). Research Objectives are as follows: - To assess engagement and use of the HOT program and its components, and HOT-BOT by teenage participants - To assess engagement and use of HOT parent resources by parents/caregivers of the participants - To determine the reach of HOT pilot recruitment and representativeness of the target population - To determine the effectiveness of the program to support teenagers to achieve healthy lifestyle goals, and improve weight, diet and activity behaviours, and self-perception (outcome evaluation) - To assess the agreement of adolescent-reported diet intake with parent-reported scores obtained with the Children’s Dietary Questionnaire. - To determine program satisfaction and process evaluation data from participants - To conduct focus groups and/or interviews to deeply explore the participants HOT experience (impact evaluation) and their thoughts on the content and design of the program

Bowel and bladder problems, mainly in the form of constipation and urinary incontinence, affect more than half of people with Multiple Sclerosis (MS). These problems have traditionally been managed using a combination of manual and pharmacological interventions. However, such solutions are usually only partially effective. Therefore, a non-invasive method of improving bowel and bladder function for people with MS is urgently needed. The abdominal muscles play a major role during defecation and urination. Surface electrical stimulation of the abdominal muscles, termed Abdominal Functional Electrical Stimulation (Abdominal FES), has been shown to improve bowel function after spinal cord injury, with a case study suggesting this technique may also improve bowel function in MS. There is also limited evidence that Abdominal FES can improve bladder control. Therefore, we propose the first significant study to investigate the effectiveness of Abdominal FES to improve the bowel and bladder function of people with MS. Hypothesis: Abdominal FES can improve bowel and bladder function for people with MS. Individual aims of this project are to assess the effect of Abdominal FES on: 1) whole gut and colonic transit time 2) constipation and laxative use 3) incontinence related quality of life 4) frequency of defecation and nocturia

The purpose of this study is to determine whether a study to look at the safety and efficacy of an infusion of lidocaine at the time of breast surgery is feasible. Who is it for? You may be eligible for this study if you are over the age of 18 and are undergoing breast cancer surgery. Study details Participants will be randomised to one of two groups. One group will be given a lidocaine infusion during and for 12 hours after breast cancer surgery, and the other group will be given a placebo infusion. Participants will then undergo a number of tests including lidocaine levels in the blood at two different time points after your surgery and inflammatory proteins to see if these are altered by the infusion. They will also be followed up by researchers for 6 months following the breast cancer surgery. It is hoped that this research will help expand research in long-term pain relief for those undergoing breast cancer surgeries.

Background: Kidney stones are a common presentation to Emergency Departments throughout Australasia, with a lifetime prevalence of 10 to 15%. The main aim of management in the ED is to provide fast, effective and safe analgesia to patients. The most commonly prescribed analgesia in renal colic are non steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs(NSAIDS), opioids and paracetamol. TENS has been used to complement traditional analgesia in both labour and postoperative pain control. Hypothesis: Patients with renal stones using transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) experience the same amount of pain as well as requiring similar doses of pharmacological analgesia compared with patients not using transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation who present to the Angliss Emergency Department Methods: This is a prospective randomised control study aiming to study 2 arms of patients – with and without the use of TENS equipment as an adjunct in the management of pain associated with renal colic. Significance: The research undertaken will help understand help a better understanding of the analgesic options available to patients suffering renal colic who present to the emergency department. This will help medical practitioners explore options to better manage the pain associated with renal colic and complement with a potential decrease in the use of opioid prescription of pharmacotherapy. Furthermore if successful in the emergency department, then there is potential for TENS to be used in the community as an adjunct for patients to better manage their pain in regards to renal colic.