Chronic pain is a common and debilitating condition. One in five people in the Australian community have been found to experience chronic pain at any one time. Although there is no evidence of a consistent increase in rates of chronic pain, the rate of permanent disability has increased dramatically in recent decades. This has contributed to the growing cost of chronic pain. For example, back pain is the most common reason for filing workers' compensation claims and leads to loss of 101.8 millio ....Chronic pain is a common and debilitating condition. One in five people in the Australian community have been found to experience chronic pain at any one time. Although there is no evidence of a consistent increase in rates of chronic pain, the rate of permanent disability has increased dramatically in recent decades. This has contributed to the growing cost of chronic pain. For example, back pain is the most common reason for filing workers' compensation claims and leads to loss of 101.8 million workdays annually. The annual costs of medical care for back pain alone have been estimated at $AUD50 billion in the US and $10 billion in Australia. Not only is chronic pain a considerable economic burden, it is also a considerable personal burden to patients. Pain is one of the strongest predictors of poor quality of life and has consistently been found to be associated with high rates of depression. Although there is a large body of research that investigates what factors are associated with chronic pain, there is surprisingly little research that investigates the mechanisms that cause chronicity. Theories of chronic pain suggest that psychological characteristics increase the propensity for people to develop chronic pain. Specifically, theories argue that those people who tend to be fearful of pain will over-attend to painful sensations and avoid pain-provoking activities and as a result are at risk of developing chronic pain. This study will test those theories. If it is found that over-attending to pain does predispose patients to develop chronic pain, this will have important implications for preventing the development of chronic pain. These findings could help to devise early interventions to prevent chronicity and thereby reduce the economic burden to health services and the emotional burden to patients in terms of reduced quality of life.Read moreRead less
Technology is changing the lives of Australians. We need to understand the impact on health to gain the benefits with minimal harm. This fellowship will support a program of internationally leading research drawing together ergonomics, physiotherapy and physical activity expertise. Example projects include the impact of electronic games on children’s activity, walking workstations to increase physical activity of office workers and a family-based program for overweight adolescents.
Extension Of The Calcium Intake Fracture Outcome Study
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$272,025.00
Summary
Osteoporosis is a largely preventable disease yet 1 in 10 Australians have osteoporosis. Every year >64,000 osteoporotic fractures occur, which is one every 8.1 minutes and women are three times as likely to have the disease than men. The Bone and Calcium Research Group at the University of Western Australia, is studying how to prevent osteoporosis in elderly women. This study is called the Calcium Intake Fracture Outcome Study or CAIFOS. During 1998, 1,500 women were recruited to study wheth ....Osteoporosis is a largely preventable disease yet 1 in 10 Australians have osteoporosis. Every year >64,000 osteoporotic fractures occur, which is one every 8.1 minutes and women are three times as likely to have the disease than men. The Bone and Calcium Research Group at the University of Western Australia, is studying how to prevent osteoporosis in elderly women. This study is called the Calcium Intake Fracture Outcome Study or CAIFOS. During 1998, 1,500 women were recruited to study whether a daily calcium supplement for 5 years helps to prevent fractures compared to a diet without a supplement. To do this only half of the women were given calcium supplements and the other half were given matched placebo tablets. Each year the study participants are reviewed and asked whether or not they have broken any bones and have other measurements to monitor their bone health and overall health. The subjects are entering their last year of treatment and will finish the study during 2003. At this appointment all subjects will undergo the same series of measurements that they had at the beginning of the study to determine whether or not they have fractured any bones, improved their bone mass and overall health during the treatment stage. The main outcome of the study is to determine whether calcium is useful as a supplement to prevent osteoporotic fracture in elderly women. If this study finds that fewer women fractured in the calcium treated group compared to the non treated group, given that both groups were similar to begin with, we can say that supplementation with calcium prevents fractures. Thus, public health messages about preventing osteoporosis will be able to direct the community to take supplements to prevent a disease that creates pain and disability in later life. The advantage of this study is that it is studying other aspects of these women health, so we can determine whether the calcium is safe to use and improves people's quality of life.Read moreRead less
METHODS - A Randomised Controlled Trial Of METhotrexate To Treat Hand Osteoarthritis With Synovitis
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$770,014.00
Summary
Hand osteoarthritis (OA) is common, but has no treatment. Almost 50% of people with hand OA will have joint swelling (synovitis). The hand joint of people with synovitis are 3.5 times more likely to experience joint destruction within as little as 2 years. Drugs used to treat synovitis may reduce pain and joint destruction. We propose that treating patients with symptomatic hand OA and synovitis with the anti-synovitis drug, methotrexate, will be a major medical advance.