Women's International Study Of Long Duration Oestrogen After Menopause (WISDOM)
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$208,920.00
Summary
Life expectancy of Australian women has greatly increased but so have the number of 'disability years' that a woman experiences. On average a woman's last 9 years are disability years (ie in the care of others), with a reduction in quality of life and at great cost to the community. The main causes of disability are cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis, arthritis, dementia and incontinence, which may all be influenced by a lack of oestrogen in the post-menopausal years when the ovaries produce n ....Life expectancy of Australian women has greatly increased but so have the number of 'disability years' that a woman experiences. On average a woman's last 9 years are disability years (ie in the care of others), with a reduction in quality of life and at great cost to the community. The main causes of disability are cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis, arthritis, dementia and incontinence, which may all be influenced by a lack of oestrogen in the post-menopausal years when the ovaries produce no more oestrogen. Does long-term hormone replacement therapy (HRT) reduce these problems and increase the quality of life? Does HRT promote adverse effects eg. breast cancer, blood clots? Do some women benefit more than others? Are some women more at risk? What is the overall cost of HRT to the individual and the community? Do women without a uterus require just oestrogen alone or an added hormone, progestogen? These questions can never be answered without a large long-term prospective randomised placebo controlled trial, as all current non-randomised studies are open to major biases due to inequalities in the study groups through selection, healthy user effects etc. As HRT is a potential option for all women and its potential influence on many major diseases may be great both through benefit and harm, it is essential to conduct such a trial. Its size and cost requires international collaboration and Australia seeks up to 2000 volunteers to join a trial of up to 36,000 women around the world. They will take HRT or placebo for 10 years with close monitoring and medical checks, and their health records will be checked for a further 10 years. The trial is called WISDOM-Women's International Study of long Duration Oestrogen after Menopause.Read moreRead less
Characterising Quality Of Life And Its Determinants For Children With Intellectual Disability And Their Families
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$520,874.00
Summary
Approximately 2% of children are born with intellectual disability. They and their families often experience poor health and wellbeing. We will develop a measure of quality of life for affected children and then we will investigate how different factors affect both child and family quality of life. Our new measure will provide capacity to determine what treatments could improve the lives of affected children and their families.
Psychosocial Disability And Return To Work In Younger Stroke Survivors
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$511,216.00
Summary
Each year about 12,000 Australians of working age survive a stroke. These younger survivors have responsibility for generating an income or providing care for families and state that their main objective is to return to work for financial reasons and to help rebuild confidence and independence. This observational 3 year study will determine thefactors are associated with returning to work, improving the wellbeing of thousands of stroke survivors and their families using multivariate regression.
A System For Measurement Of Vision-specific Quality Of Life Using Item Banking And Computer Adaptive Testing (ViSBank)
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$831,155.00
Summary
When evaluating medical treatments, it is important to consider all effects from the patient’s perspective; their quality of life. This project utilises new technology to develop an adaptable, computerised, internet-based system to measure the effects of eye diseases and their treatments on patients’ quality of life. This system will provide for more accurate, precise and efficient measurement than existing methods.
End-of-Life Care And Dying-at-Home: Choices And Needs Of People With Intellectual Disability And Their Carers
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$104,343.00
Summary
With the continued push towards community living for people with intellectual disability, how best to provide support at the end-of-life remains a neglected research area. This occurs against a backdrop of an increasingly ageing population, in an arena where end-of-life care and dying at home is the preferred option for most people. This research breaks new ground, aiming to establish supports such that people with intellectual disability may remain at home until the end of their life.