Depression Prevalence: Delineation Issues In 2007 National Mental Health & Wellbeing And 2008 South Australian Surveys
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$257,051.00
Summary
It is believed depression is increasing and Australia has many health interventions to help, but it is unknown if these are reducing depression prevalence. Two surveys have reported on depression in the past 10 years. One shows it is decreasing, the other it is increasing. This study will examine depression measurement in both surveys to find out why they disagree. The findings will have implications for future depression measurement and what health care interventions should be planned.
What Determines Patients' Adherence To Treatment In Cardiovascular Disease Prevention? A Process Evaluation Of The Kanyini_GAP Trial
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$254,251.00
Summary
Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death and disability in Australia with a disproportionate burden borne by Aboriginal populations. Despite the existence of proven treatments, adherence to therapy is a major problem. Based on the use of well-established survey methods involving patients, GPs and pharmacists the study seeks to better understand the reasons for non-adherence and why different strategies to address this may or may not be effective.
Evaluating The Safety Of Computer Decision Support Systems In General Practice
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$300,389.00
Summary
Use of clinical software has many benefits. However it is also likely that clinical software will introduce new computer-generated errors that may harm patients. This project will evaluate the safety of software for prescribing in general practice. We will firstly examine mechanisms for errors generated by clinical software on its own, and then in the hands of typical users. The outcomes will have broad potential to guide the regulation, use and design of clinical software in general practice.
Obesity, Overweight And Hospitalisation: Identifying Targets For Interventions To Prevent Adverse Health Outcomes
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$603,755.00
Summary
Obesity is an important and rapidly increasing health problem, especially in indigenous communities. The proposed project investigates how obesity affects the risk of hospital admission in Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians, including providing evidence regarding the nature of the hospitalisation, the cost and whether specific groups are at a higher risk of obesity-related hospitalisation. In doing so it aims to identify targets for intervention to reduce obesity-related hospitalisation
Inter-rater Reliability And Predictive Validity Of A New Functional Capacity Evaluation For Chronic Back Pain
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$105,794.00
Summary
Back pain costs the Australian community tens of billions of dollars. Back pain is one of the main causes of work injury and lost time from work. The longer a person is off work, the harder it is to get them back to work. Workers' compensation systems around Australia aim at getting the injured worker with back pain back to work as soon as possible. One of the difficulties in this process is determining what the person with back pain can physically do in the workplace. An evaluation technique, c ....Back pain costs the Australian community tens of billions of dollars. Back pain is one of the main causes of work injury and lost time from work. The longer a person is off work, the harder it is to get them back to work. Workers' compensation systems around Australia aim at getting the injured worker with back pain back to work as soon as possible. One of the difficulties in this process is determining what the person with back pain can physically do in the workplace. An evaluation technique, called functional capacity evaluation (known as FCE), is one method used to find out what the person with back pain physically can and cannot do. In a FCE, a trained health professional such as an occupational therapist, observes the person performing a range of physical activities like the ones he or she may have to perform in a job. The therapist closely observes the person performing activities such as lifting, carrying, kneeling, crouching, balancing, and walking and notes any limitations in the person's ability to complete the activities. The therapist makes comments about what difficulties the person may have on the job and recommendations about how these could be reduced or eliminated. The information gained from these evaluations can be valuable for the treating doctor in deciding whether the person is ready to go back to work and what duties the person can and cannot do on the job. Because of such value they provide, FCE is commonly used in rehabilitation programs endorsed by workers' compensation systems around Australia. This widespread use and endorsement of FCE occurs despite limited research on the soundness of the ratings made from these evaluations. There is a need to see whether recommendations made from FCEs are consistent between therapists (i.e. reliable) and to see if the FCE accurately predicts the person's physical capacity for work. This research will examine these issues with injured workers with back pain.Read moreRead less
Randomised Controlled Trial Of Multimedia Patient Education Approaches To Preventing In-hospital Falls
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$524,137.00
Summary
In hospital falls are one of the most frequently occurring adverse events in Australian hospitals. They are the cause of considerable patient morbidity, stress to family members and care givers, and health care resource use. However, there are many potential causes of in-hospital falls which has made minimising them a difficult task for hospitals around the country. Recent evidence has indicated that a patient intervention strategy is useful for preventing in-hospital falls as a part of a multi- ....In hospital falls are one of the most frequently occurring adverse events in Australian hospitals. They are the cause of considerable patient morbidity, stress to family members and care givers, and health care resource use. However, there are many potential causes of in-hospital falls which has made minimising them a difficult task for hospitals around the country. Recent evidence has indicated that a patient intervention strategy is useful for preventing in-hospital falls as a part of a multi-factorial falls prevention program. This research aims to investigate the effectiveness and economic benefit of two approaches to providing patient education for the prevention of in-hospital falls. Patients at high risk for falls will be recruited from the Princess Alexandra Hospital and be randomly allocated to either a DVD + 4 sessions of face-to-face education with an occupational therapist program, to a DVD alone education program, or to a usual care with no additional education control condition. Patients will be followed up until their discharge from hospital and the number of in-hospital falls they incur will be compared between groups. It is expected that both the DVD + 4 sessions of face-to-face education with an occupational therapist program, to a DVD alone education program will be effective in reducing falls and that the DVD alone education program will demonstrate the greater cost-effectiveness in reducing falls. Stemming from this research, it is anticipated that a cost-effective resource for preventing in-hospital falls will be developed and evaluated such that it can be used in hospitals Australia wide.Read moreRead less
The IDEAL Trial - Initiating Dialysis Early And Late
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$752,500.00
Summary
Kidney replacement therapy by dialysis has in the past been provided for patients with endstage renal failure once their remaining kidney function has deterioriated to less than 5-10% of normal. There has been an increasing trend in recent years to offer dialysis therapy at an earlier stage of kidney failure, such that more than 20% of dialysis patients in Australia (and up to 35% in some subgroups) now commence that therapy when their remaining kidney function is greater than 10%. This change h ....Kidney replacement therapy by dialysis has in the past been provided for patients with endstage renal failure once their remaining kidney function has deterioriated to less than 5-10% of normal. There has been an increasing trend in recent years to offer dialysis therapy at an earlier stage of kidney failure, such that more than 20% of dialysis patients in Australia (and up to 35% in some subgroups) now commence that therapy when their remaining kidney function is greater than 10%. This change has occurred because of the unproven belief that earlier dialysis may be associated with a better health outcome. However, dialysis treatment is associated with complications and it is very expensive. Therefore, it is important to determine the health and economic consequences of commencing dialysis early rather than late. The IDEAL trial (Initiating Dialysis Early And Late) is a large multi-centre study being conducted in many renal units in Australia and New Zealand, which will determine whether it is better, in terms of health outcomes and total cost of treatment, to commence dialysis at a time when remaining kidney function is between 10 and 14% or between 5 and 7% of normal.Read moreRead less
PREOPERATIVE RISK FACTORS, ADVERSE OUTCOMES AND EFFECTS OF EPIDURAL AND SPINAL ANAESTHESIA
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$66,110.00
Summary
Anaesthesia and major surgery in patients with coexisting important medical problems present a major challenge to health professionals to avoid and minimise life threatening complications of such surgery. Accurate prediction of which patients are likely to fare badly, and therefore need more intensive peri-operative care and supervision, and knowing definitively whether epidural techniques really do improve the outcome of surgery are issues of central importance in the practice of anaesthesia. P ....Anaesthesia and major surgery in patients with coexisting important medical problems present a major challenge to health professionals to avoid and minimise life threatening complications of such surgery. Accurate prediction of which patients are likely to fare badly, and therefore need more intensive peri-operative care and supervision, and knowing definitively whether epidural techniques really do improve the outcome of surgery are issues of central importance in the practice of anaesthesia. Providing clear answers to both questions requires careful analysis of large amounts of data in which systematic and random errors have been minimised. Databases from well-designed and supervised clinical trials represent an invaluable resource in this regard because they have been compiled through the rigorous application of unambiguous definitions and protocols during the process of recording, coding and entering the information. By bringing together the resources and expertise of the MASTER Trial group and the Collaborative Overview of Randomised of Trials of Regional Anaesthesia (CORTRA), both of which are major international projects led from the Australasian region, we have a unique opportunity to provide exceptionally robust answers to some of the most challenging issues in anaesthesia. The combined study of two large international databases will provide a more precise quantitative analysis of the components of preoperative risk and their relationship to life threatening post operative complications, and the possible role of epidural and spinal anaesthesia in minimising risk by reducing the frequency of these complications.Read moreRead less