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The main purpose of this study is to explore the levels of stress and anxiety perceived by physiotherapy students during the course of their clinical placements. Clinical placements are designed to challenge students’ learning and expose them to situations which they would not otherwise experience. The transition between university-based learning and clinical practice is challenging for many students. Developing competency in safe patient management in the clinical setting is demanding, with a noticeable gap between what is learnt in the classroom and implementing this in a clinical setting. Supervised clinical placements provide experiential learning where students gain concrete experience, and have opportunities for observation and reflection, formation of abstract concepts and practise of new skills. In our anecdotal experience, a high number of physiotherapy students report that clinical placements are a source of stress and anxiety. It is the amount of stress and an individual student’s capacity to manage it that can result in stress being either beneficial or detrimental to learning. It is currently unknown whether the perceived levels of stress and anxiety that physiotherapy students experience during clinical placement impacts on their learning, either positively or negatively, and what factors may contribute to this. The primary aim of this study is to measure the levels of stress and anxiety perceived by physiotherapy students at a number of time points across their clinical placements (acute care, rehabilitation and primary and ambulatory care) to determine if the students’ perceived levels of stress and anxiety change over the clinical placement. Secondary aims include whether any patterns emerge in the levels of stress and anxiety perceived by students and whether baseline measures of anxiety traits influence anxiety levels during clinical placements. It is anticipated that the study will provide insight into the levels of stress and anxiety perceived by physiotherapy students during their clinical placements. It is possible that patterns of perceived stress and anxiety may emerge during particular time points in the clinical placement which could be used to help inform future research and to guide time specific changes to the clinical placement framework (e.g. strategies for stress reduction, education around resilience) which in turn may enhance clinical placement experiences and optimise student learning

Stroke continues to be a major public health issue. It is the third most common cause of death. The financial cost in Australia is estimated to be $5 billion each year. Tasmania and South Australia are the worst affected States. Atrial fibrillation (AF), the most common sustained cardiac arrhythmia, is a major modifiable risk factor for stroke. AF is associated with a five times increased risk of stroke and is responsible for up to 25% of strokes in elderly adults. Recently, international guidelines and expert consensus statements have recommended more widespread screening for AF in those aged 65 years or older. The case is compelling - AF is common and a leading cause of stroke. Unfortunately, AF often has no symptoms and is commonly undiagnosed or untreated by the time stroke occurs. AF-related strokes are associated with significant morbidity, mortality, and healthcare costs, yet they are highly preventable with the use of warfarin or newer anticoagulant drugs. Given the availability of effective therapy, along with accurate and inexpensive screening technology, population-based AF screening has the potential to become an important public health program. In older age groups, identification and management of AF is the most significant way to prevent stroke. Internationally, there have been recent recommendations for more widespread screening for AF in those aged 65 years or older, as a cost-effective strategy for stroke prevention. This project will raise public awareness of AF and improve its detection, and hopefully lessen the burden of stroke in Tasmania. We intend to screen approximately 3,000 Tasmanians aged 65 years or older, and without previously diagnosed AF. Screening will take place throughout most of 2018 at a range of community venues across Tasmania. If the presence of AF is suspected, the project team will advise the participant and ensure they understand it is not a definitive diagnosis and that they should make an appointment to see their GP for review. They will be given specific information to take to their GP. The GPs of individuals with a suspected diagnosis of AF upon screening will also be directly contacted by telephone. The project team will contact each participant with suspected AF approximately one month after the screening, to ensure they have not been lost to follow-up and to determine the outcome of the initial screening. The project objectives are to: 1. Successfully develop and implement an AF public screening and education program across Tasmania. 2. Promote community awareness of AF through talks, screening events and marketing. 3. Ensure that individuals with a tentative diagnosis of AF are followed up by their GP. 4. Determine evaluation outcomes from the AF public screening program e.g. rates of detection of previously undiagnosed AF (with analyses by age and gender etc.), rates of false positives based on subsequent GP assessment, AF management initiated.

Conventional orthokeratology (OK) lenses are specialised rigid contact lenses that are worn overnight during sleep in order to reshape the front surface of the eye (the cornea) to temporarily correct mild to moderate degrees of refractive error, most commonly short-sightedness or myopia. OK lenses produce subtle changes in the curvature and power of the cornea, in the order of microns of change, when worn overnight. When the lens is removed on awakening, the reshaped cornea is now able to correct the vision of the patient during the day. The reshaping effect is temporary, and the cornea returns to its original shape and power if overnight lens wear is discontinued. Conventional OK lenses produce a single central zone of altered corneal power, and are usually used for refractive correction of simple myopia. Multifocal OK (MFOK) lenses differ from conventional OK lens designs in that the back surface design of the lens is modulated to produce a multifocal effect on corneal shape. In other words, the lens is designed to induce annular regions of alternating corneal flattening and steepening which result in concentric rings of varying corneal surface power. Contact lens designers claim that this produces a multifocal defocus effect on the neural layer of the back of the eye, or the retina, which is potentially useful for correcting presbyopia (poor reading vision), and for reducing myopic progression in children. There are no published data on the fitting performance of MFOK lenses of differing designs. For a MFOK lens to be effective for its optical purpose, in correcting or controlling refractive errors, the corneal reshaping effect must be centred over the pupil, and the corneal reshaping induced by overnight lens wear must produce the desired changes in corneal power. The research proposed here will investigate these aspects of MFOK lens performance, to determine the potential for various designs of MFOK lens to be useful for their refractive purpose in long term use.

5 Fluorouracil (5fu) is administered in combination with leucovorin (LV) to enhance clinical activity. However, simultaneous administration is not possible because 5FU and LV are chemically incompatible. Collectively, these adverse events lead to poor patient outcomes due to treatment interruption and discontinuation. Deflexifol, an all in one formulation of 5FU/LV with cyclodextrin (HP-ß-CD 100mg/ml, 5FU 15mg/ml & LV 1mg/ml) at physiological pH, was developed as an alternative. This trial is to test the safety and efficacy of Deflexifol when given as a bolus or infusion to patients that have failed standard of care. The main outcome of this trial is to establish the safety and efficacy of Deflexifol and determine a suitable dose for further study in a phase II trial

The aim of the project is to evaluate the risk of antibodies to blood donor proteins developing after blood transfusions, Participants will be patients who are planned to undergo a transfusion of 1 or more units of red cells. Testing for antibodies to donor proteins will be done before and 6-8 weeks after the transfusion to look for the development of new antibodies. This will help researchers to find a way to give patients blood transfusions without the risk of them developing antibodies that could put later transplants at risk.

Endovascular aortic aneurysm repair (EVAR) is being performed at an increasing rate in both the elective and emergency settings. The lower immediate morbidity and mortality rates of EVAR have been influential in the rapid adoption of this technique. However, the need for ongoing monitoring and higher rates of subsequent re-intervention that are required remain a concern for Vascular surgeons. The ability to be able to identify and predict the patient group most likely to require such re-interventions would be highly beneficial to rationalising treatment for patients. Intra-operative pressure measurements of the aneurysm sac is one method that may be able to guide therapy and this study is an extension of the currently mixed evidence surrounding this area. The primary aim will be to assess if intra-sac pressure measurements (and changes in these measurements) can predict the development of intra-operative or persistent endoleaks or continued aneurysm sac enlargement. The intra-sac pressure measurements will be measured in terms of reduction in systolic and diastolic pressures as well as pulse pressure and as a ratio to the systemic circulation pressure. The progress of the aneurysm sac post-operatively will be monitored through the usual follow-up procedure of ultrasounds at regular intervals. If any persistent endoleaks are detected or there is continued sac enlargement then Computed Tomography (CT) with contrast injection or conventional angiography will be performed to further delineate the pathology.

A double-blind randomised controlled study to evaluate the effectiveness of orally-dosed Palmitoylethanolamide (PEA) compared to ibuprofen for reducing pain severity and duration of headaches in healthy participants aged 18 years and older

The purpose of this trial is to investigate the impact of a school-based physical activity program (known as Burn 2 Learn), incorporating High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT), on the fitness and well-being of senior school students. We hypothesise that students participating in the Burn 2 Learn intervention will experience improved aerobic (primary outcome) and muscular fitness, and enhanced mental health (i.e., well-being and psychological distress), compared with a control group of students participating in usual practice (i.e., normal curricular lessons).

The aim of this project is to determine if ablation procedure will offer benefit over optimal medical management in people with paroxysmal/ persistant AF & HFpEF. We will also determine what changes are seen in the heart with AF and how it affects the heart’s structure & exercise capacity (Exercise RHC and VO2 peak). We will determine if these changes can improve with ablation.

This study aims to evaluate the effects of a coach-supported, individually-tailored online parenting program for parents of adolescents with anxiety or depression. The program is designed to provide parents with (1) personalised feedback about their current parenting, including what they are doing well and areas that they can improve in order to reduce their teen's levels of anxiety, depression and sleep problems; (2) specific modules of the online parenting intervention, recommended based on parents' identified areas for improvement; and, (3) e-coaching sessions to support parents in making changes in their parenting. and their relationship with their adolescent.