ANZCTR search results

The aim of this study is to evaluate the clinical effectiveness, cost effectiveness and implementation pathways for successfully introducing a Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment (CGA) for older patients having total hip or knee replacement. CGA includes pre- and post-operative assessment, shared decision-making, prevention and early identification of complications by a multi-disciplinary team, The study will produce an implementation roadmap for Australian health services.

The TIM-TAM trial is a prospective, open-label, blinded endpoint randomised controlled trial assessing whether breast arterial calcification detected on routine mammography can be used to guide cardiovascular risk assessment and prevention in women. Participants will undergo automated assessment of mammograms for breast arterial calcification. Those with breast arterial calcification who meet eligibility criteria will be randomised to either BAC-guided enhanced cardiovascular risk management or standard care. The intervention group will receive BAC visualisation, cardiovascular risk assessment, personalised risk communication, education, and structured nurse-led risk management with follow-up over 36 months. The control group will receive standard cardiovascular risk management through usual care. Outcomes will include change in cardiovascular risk score, adherence to preventive therapy, and change in coronary plaque burden on coronary computed tomography

Continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) devices are commonly used by people with diabetes to measure glucose levels using a small sensor placed under the skin. New sensor technologies may allow several important health markers, including glucose, ketones, and lactate, to be measured continuously using a single sensor. Monitoring ketones may help identify the early stages of diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA), a serious complication of diabetes, while lactate can provide information about how well the body's tissues are functioning. Measuring multiple markers at the same time could give healthcare professionals a more complete picture of a person's metabolic health than glucose monitoring alone. This study aims to evaluate the performance and potential clinical value of multi-analyte sensors, particularly in hospitalised patients where continuous monitoring may help detect health problems earlier. The findings may support the development of future monitoring technologies that improve patient care and safety both in hospital and community settings.

This is a retrospective study aiming to look at rates and predictors of escalation in patients admitted to the Queensland Children's Hospital HITH. Patient-specific, clinical and service-related factors will be assessed.

In a significant proportion of patients suffering from an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, their heart enters a chaotic rhythm, called ventricular fibrillation (VF). This rhythm, and a similar rhythm called ventricular tachycardia (VT), can be treated with electricity via defibrillator (a "shock"); but this does not always work. Evidence from the UK and Australia suggests over half of patients who develop this rhythm stay in it persistently despite repeated shocks. A drug called adrenaline, used in existing resuscitation algorithms for this type of heart rhythm, may make things worse for the heart in this specific situation of persistent VT or VF. Recent studies show that a drug called esmolol may improve the chances of survival in patients with these persistent shockable rhythms, especially when used with less adrenaline. We want to conduct a feasibility study to see if using esmolol alongside less adrenaline may help more people recover from cardiac arrest, and to assess the feasibility of performing this sort of trial for critically unwell patients in a prehospital setting in South Australia.

Venous leg ulcers make up the majority of chronic leg wounds. These ulcers cause pain and do not heal in a timely manner. They impact quality of life, cause pain and reduce mobility. Wound dressing and compression therapy are used to heal these ulcers. Yet, blue light therapy shows promise is supporting faster ulcer healing. We will test if adding blue light therapy to standard care improves ulcer healing. This will be compared to standard care alone. The EmoLED device uses blue light therapy to reduce inflammation and the effect of bacteria, which may help wounds to heal.

Suction drainage catheters are routinely used after abdominal surgery to remove excess fluid. Neutralising suction before drain removal is essential to reduce pain, discomfort, and complications. A review identified two drain removal techniques used by nurses, but found no evidence supporting either method, particularly regarding patient pain or ease of removal. This nurse-led randomised controlled trial compared both techniques to determine the optimal approach based on patient and nurse experiences.

The aim of this trial is to assess the effectiveness of tailored, multicomponent educational interventions on improving evidence-based, guideline-concordant secondary stroke prevention care provided by Australian general practitioners. We hypothesise that participation in tailored, multicomponent education on secondary stroke prevention will lead to improved guideline-concordant care provided to patients with stroke and/or TIA in general practice compared with control.

This study looks at two proteins in the blood — GFAP and UCH-L1 — that are released when the brain is injured. We will measure these proteins in trauma patients admitted to intensive care, using two blood samples (one on admission and one 24 hours after injury), and compare the levels between patients with and without a traumatic brain injury. We will then see how well these blood markers predict patients' recovery six months later and compare our results against international standards to check whether the tests are reliable enough for everyday hospital use. We hypothesise that higher blood levels of GFAP and UCH-L1 are associated with the presence of traumatic brain injury and with poorer recovery at six months.

Hypertension remains a major risk factor for heart disease which is amendable to lifestyle medicine through optimisation of nutrition, exercise, sleep, stress, social connection and minimising harmful substances. Digital health programs are growing in popularity as useful tools to facilitate healthy behavioural changes, but formal evaluations of their therapeutic benefits are scarce. This pilot study aims to assess how this digital health anti-hypertension program (Lyfy) facilitates healthy diet and physical activity in patients with high blood pressure in Australian general practice settings. Our hypothesis is that implementing this digital health program is both feasible and acceptable; It will also improve the blood pressure and healthy behavioural changes of the participants.