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Full-Text Articles in Medicine and Health Sciences

General Practitioners' Experiences Of Bereavement Care And Their Educational Support Needs: A Qualitative Study, Moira O'Connor, Lauren J. Breen Jan 2014

General Practitioners' Experiences Of Bereavement Care And Their Educational Support Needs: A Qualitative Study, Moira O'Connor, Lauren J. Breen

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Background: General Practitioners (GPs) are well-positioned to provide grief support to patients. Most GPs view the provision of bereavement care as an important aspect of their role and the GP is the health professional that many people turn to when they need support. We aimed to explore GPs' understandings of bereavement care and their education and professional development needs in relation to bereavement care. Methods. An in-depth qualitative design was adopted using a social constructionist approach as our aims were exploratory and applied. Nineteen GPs (12 women and 7 men) living in Western Australia were interviewed; 14 were based in …


Acute Hospital-Based Services Utilisation During The Last Year Of Life In New South Wales, Australia: Methods For A Population-Based Study, Dianne L. O'Connell, David E. Goldsbury, Patricia Davidson, Afaf Girgis, Jane L. Phillips, Michael Piza, Anne Wilkinson, Jane M. Ingham Jan 2014

Acute Hospital-Based Services Utilisation During The Last Year Of Life In New South Wales, Australia: Methods For A Population-Based Study, Dianne L. O'Connell, David E. Goldsbury, Patricia Davidson, Afaf Girgis, Jane L. Phillips, Michael Piza, Anne Wilkinson, Jane M. Ingham

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Objectives: The aim of this study is to describe healthcare utilisation in the last year of life for people in Australia, to help inform health services planning. The methods and datasets that are being used are described in this paper. Design/Setting: Linked, routinely collected administrative health data are being analysed for all people who died in New South Wales (NSW), Australia's most populous state, in 2007. The data comprised linked death records (2007), hospital admissions and emergency department presentations (2006-2007) and cancer registrations (1994-2007). Participants: There were 46 341 deaths in NSW in 2007. The initial analyses include 45 760 …


Contourlet Textual Features: Improving The Diagnosis Of Solitary Pulmonary Nodules In Two Dimensional Ct Images, Jingjing Wang, Tao Sun, Ni Gao, Desmond D. Menon, Yanxia Luo, Qi Gao, Xia Li, Wei Wang, Huiping Zhu, Pingxin Lv, Zhigang Liang, Lixin Tao, Xiangtong Liu, Xiuhua Guo Jan 2014

Contourlet Textual Features: Improving The Diagnosis Of Solitary Pulmonary Nodules In Two Dimensional Ct Images, Jingjing Wang, Tao Sun, Ni Gao, Desmond D. Menon, Yanxia Luo, Qi Gao, Xia Li, Wei Wang, Huiping Zhu, Pingxin Lv, Zhigang Liang, Lixin Tao, Xiangtong Liu, Xiuhua Guo

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Materials and Methods: A total of 6,299 CT images were acquired from 336 patients, with 1,454 benign pulmonary nodule images from 84 patients (50 male, 34 female) and 4,845 malignant from 252 patients (150 male, 102 female). Further to this, nineteen patient information categories, which included seven demographic parameters and twelve morphological features, were also collected. A contourlet was used to extract fourteen types of textural features. These were then used to establish three support vector machine models. One comprised a database constructed of nineteen collected patient information categories, another included contourlet textural features and the third one contained both …


Pulmonary Function In Patients With Huntington's Disease, Alvaro Reyes, Travis Cruickshank, Mel Ziman, Ken Nosaka Jan 2014

Pulmonary Function In Patients With Huntington's Disease, Alvaro Reyes, Travis Cruickshank, Mel Ziman, Ken Nosaka

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Background: Huntington's disease (HD) is a neurodegenerative disorder characterized by progressive motor, cognitive and psychiatric disturbances. Chest muscle rigidity, respiratory muscle weakness, difficulty in clearing airway secretions and swallowing abnormalities have been described in patients with neurodegenerative disorders including HD. However limited information is available regarding respiratory function in HD patients. The purpose of this study was to investigate pulmonary function of patients with HD in comparison to healthy volunteers, and its association with motor severity.Methods: Pulmonary function measures were taken from 18 (11 male, 7 female) manifest HD patients (53 ± 10 years), and 18 (10 male, 8 female) …


Improving Sexual Health In Men With Prostate Cancer: Randomised Controlled Trial Of Exercise And Psychosexual Therapies, Prue Cormie, Suzanne K. Chambers, Robert U. Newton, Robert A. Gardiner, Nigel Spry, Dennis R. Taaffe, David Joseph, M Akhlil Hamid, Peter Chong, David Hughes, Kyra Hamilton, Daniel A. Galvão Jan 2014

Improving Sexual Health In Men With Prostate Cancer: Randomised Controlled Trial Of Exercise And Psychosexual Therapies, Prue Cormie, Suzanne K. Chambers, Robert U. Newton, Robert A. Gardiner, Nigel Spry, Dennis R. Taaffe, David Joseph, M Akhlil Hamid, Peter Chong, David Hughes, Kyra Hamilton, Daniel A. Galvão

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Background: Despite being a critical survivorship care issue, there is a clear gap in current knowledge of the optimal treatment of sexual dysfunction in men with prostate cancer. There is sound theoretical rationale and emerging evidence that exercise may be an innovative therapy to counteract sexual dysfunction in men with prostate cancer. Furthermore, despite the multidimensional aetiology of sexual dysfunction, there is a paucity of research investigating the efficacy of integrated treatment models. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to: 1) examine the efficacy of exercise as a therapy to aid in the management of sexual dysfunction in men …


A Comparison Of Aphasia Therapy Outcomes Before And After A Very Early Rehabilitation Programme Following Stroke, Erin Godecke, Natalie A. Ciccone, Andrew S. Granger, Tapan Rai, Deborah West, Angela Cream, Jade Cartwright, Graeme J. Hankey Jan 2014

A Comparison Of Aphasia Therapy Outcomes Before And After A Very Early Rehabilitation Programme Following Stroke, Erin Godecke, Natalie A. Ciccone, Andrew S. Granger, Tapan Rai, Deborah West, Angela Cream, Jade Cartwright, Graeme J. Hankey

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Background Very early aphasia rehabilitation studies have shown mixed results. Differences in therapy intensity and therapy type contribute significantly to the equivocal results. Aims To compare a standardized, prescribed very early aphasia therapy regimen with a historical usual care control group at therapy completion (4-5 weeks post-stroke) and again at follow-up (6 months). Methods & Procedures This study compared two cohorts from successive studies conducted in four Australian acute/sub-acute hospitals. The studies had near identical recruitment, blinded assessment and data-collection protocols. The Very Early Rehabilitation (VER) cohort (N = 20) had mild-severe aphasia and received up to 20 1-h sessions …


Day Occupation Is Associated With Psychopathology For Adolescents And Young Adults With Down Syndrome, Kitty-Rose R. Foley, Peter Jacoby, Stewart Einfeld, Sonya Girdler, Jenny Bourke, Vivienne Riches, Helen Leonard Jan 2014

Day Occupation Is Associated With Psychopathology For Adolescents And Young Adults With Down Syndrome, Kitty-Rose R. Foley, Peter Jacoby, Stewart Einfeld, Sonya Girdler, Jenny Bourke, Vivienne Riches, Helen Leonard

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Background: Young adults with Down syndrome experience increased rates of emotional and behavioural problems compared with the general population. Most adolescents with Down syndrome living in Western Australia participate in sheltered employment as their main day occupation. Relationship between day occupation and changes in behaviour has not been examined. Therefore, the aim of this research was to explore any relationship between post school day occupations and changes in the young person's behaviour.Methods: The Down syndrome Needs Opinion Wishes database was used for case ascertainment of young adults aged 15 to 32 years with Down syndrome. Families of 118 young people …


Risk Factors For Cerebrovascular Disease Mortality Among The Elderly In Beijing: A Competing Risk Analysis, Zhe Tang, Tao Zhou, Yanxia Luo, Changchun Xie, Da Huo, Lixin Tao, Lei Pan, Fei Sun, Huiping Zhu, Xinghua Yang, Wei Wang, Aoshuang Yan, Xia Li, Xiuhua Guo Jan 2014

Risk Factors For Cerebrovascular Disease Mortality Among The Elderly In Beijing: A Competing Risk Analysis, Zhe Tang, Tao Zhou, Yanxia Luo, Changchun Xie, Da Huo, Lixin Tao, Lei Pan, Fei Sun, Huiping Zhu, Xinghua Yang, Wei Wang, Aoshuang Yan, Xia Li, Xiuhua Guo

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Objective: To examine the associations of combined lifestyle factors and physical conditions with cerebrovascular diseases (CBVD) mortality, after accounting for competing risk events, including death from cardiovascular diseases, cancers and other diseases. Methods: Data on 2010 subjects aged over 55 years were finally analyzed using competing risk models. All the subjects were interviewed by the Beijing Longitudinal Study of Aging (BLSA), in China, between 1 January 1992 and 30 August 2009. Results: Elderly females were at a lower risk of death from CBVD than elderly males (HR = 0.639, 95% CI = 0.457-0.895). Increasing age (HR = 1.543, 95% CI …


Iron Status And The Acute Post-Exercise Hepcidin Response In Athletes, Peter Peeling, Marc Sim, Claire E. Badenhorst, Brian Dawson, Andrew D. Govus, Chris R. Abbiss, Dorine W. Swinkels, Debbie Trinder Jan 2014

Iron Status And The Acute Post-Exercise Hepcidin Response In Athletes, Peter Peeling, Marc Sim, Claire E. Badenhorst, Brian Dawson, Andrew D. Govus, Chris R. Abbiss, Dorine W. Swinkels, Debbie Trinder

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

This study explored the relationship between serum ferritin and hepcidin in athletes. Baseline serum ferritin levels of 54 athletes from the control trial of five investigations conducted in our laboratory were considered; athletes were grouped according to values 100 mg/L (SF>100). Data pooling resulted in each athlete completing one of five running sessions: (1) 8x3 min at 85% vVO2peak; (2) 5x4 min at 90% vVO2peak; (3) 90 min continuous at 75% vVO2peak; (4) 40 min continuous at 75% vVO 2peak; (5) 40 min continuous at 65% vVO2peak. Athletes from each running session were represented amongst all four groups; hence, …


Positive Patient Experiences In An Australian Integrative Oncology Centre, Bonnie J. Furzer, Anna S. Petterson, Kemi E. Wright, Karen E. Wallman, Timothy R. Ackland, David J. Joske Jan 2014

Positive Patient Experiences In An Australian Integrative Oncology Centre, Bonnie J. Furzer, Anna S. Petterson, Kemi E. Wright, Karen E. Wallman, Timothy R. Ackland, David J. Joske

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Background: The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences of cancer patients' utilising complementary and integrative therapies (CIT) within integrative oncology centres across Western Australia.Methods: Across four locations 135 patients accessed CIT services whilst undergoing outpatient medical treatment for cancer. Of the 135 patients, 66 (61 ± 12 y; female n = 45; male n = 21) agreed to complete a personal accounts questionnaire consisting of open-ended questions designed to explore patients' perceptions of CIT. All results were transcribed into nVivo (v9) and using thematic analysis, key themes were identified.Results: Of the 66 participants, 100% indicated they would …


An Anemia Of Alzheimer's Disease, N G. Faux, A Rembach, J Wiley, K A. Ellis, D Ames, C J. Fowler, Ralph N. Martins, K K. Pertile, R L. Rumble, B Trounson, C L. Masters, A I. Bush Jan 2014

An Anemia Of Alzheimer's Disease, N G. Faux, A Rembach, J Wiley, K A. Ellis, D Ames, C J. Fowler, Ralph N. Martins, K K. Pertile, R L. Rumble, B Trounson, C L. Masters, A I. Bush

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Lower hemoglobin is associated with cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease (AD). Since brain iron homeostasis is perturbed in AD, we investigated whether this is peripherally reflected in the hematological and related blood chemistry values from the Australian Imaging Biomarker and Lifestyle (AIBL) study (a community-based, cross-sectional cohort comprising 768 healthy controls (HC), 133 participants with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and 211 participants with AD). We found that individuals with AD had significantly lower hemoglobin, mean cell hemoglobin concentrations, packed cell volume and higher erythrocyte sedimentation rates (adjusted for age, gender, APOE-ε4 and site). In AD, plasma iron, transferrin, transferrin saturation …


The Reliability Of An Adolescent Dietary Pattern Identified Using Reduced-Rank Regression: Comparison Of A Ffq And 3 D Food Record, Geeta Appannah, Gerda K. Pot, Therese A. O'Sullivan, Wendy H. Oddy, Susan A. Jebb, Gina L. Ambrosini Jan 2014

The Reliability Of An Adolescent Dietary Pattern Identified Using Reduced-Rank Regression: Comparison Of A Ffq And 3 D Food Record, Geeta Appannah, Gerda K. Pot, Therese A. O'Sullivan, Wendy H. Oddy, Susan A. Jebb, Gina L. Ambrosini

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Despite the increasing use of dietary patterns (DP) to study diet and health outcomes, relatively few studies have examined the reliability of DP using different dietary assessment methods. Reduced-rank regression (RRR) is an emerging statistical method that incorporates a priori information to characterise DP related to specific outcomes of interest. The aim of the present study was to compare DP identified using the RRR method in a FFQ with those in a 3 d food record (FR). Participants were 783 adolescents from the Western Australian Pregnancy (Raine) Cohort Study who completed both a FFQ and FR at 14 years of …


Low Back Pain Beliefs Are Associated To Age, Location Of Work, Education And Pain-Related Disability In Chinese Healthcare Professionals Working In China: A Cross Sectional Survey, B K. Tan, Anne J. Smith, Peter B. O'Sullivan, Gang Chen, Angus F. Burnett, Andrew M. Briggs Jan 2014

Low Back Pain Beliefs Are Associated To Age, Location Of Work, Education And Pain-Related Disability In Chinese Healthcare Professionals Working In China: A Cross Sectional Survey, B K. Tan, Anne J. Smith, Peter B. O'Sullivan, Gang Chen, Angus F. Burnett, Andrew M. Briggs

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Background: Low back pain (LBP) is the leading cause of disability worldwide. Evidence pointing towards a more efficacious model of care using a biopsychosocial approach for LBP management highlights the need to understand the pain-related beliefs of patients and those who treat them. The beliefs held by healthcare professionals (HCPs) are known to influence the treatment advice given to patients and consequently management outcomes. Back pain beliefs are known to be influenced by factors such as culture, education, health literacy, place of work, personal experience of LBP and the sequelae of LBP such as disability. There is currently a knowledge …


Effect Of Head And Limb Orientation On Trunk Muscle Activation During Abdominal Hollowing In Chronic Low Back Pain, Kevin Parfrey, Sean G. Gibbons, Eric J. Drinkwater, David G. Behm Jan 2014

Effect Of Head And Limb Orientation On Trunk Muscle Activation During Abdominal Hollowing In Chronic Low Back Pain, Kevin Parfrey, Sean G. Gibbons, Eric J. Drinkwater, David G. Behm

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Background: Individuals with chronic low back pain (CLBP) have altered activations patterns of the anterior trunk musculature when performing the abdominal hollowing manœuvre (attempt to pull umbilicus inward and upward towards the spine). There is a subgroup of individuals with CLBP who have high neurocognitive and sensory motor deficits with associated primitive reflexes (PR). The objective of the study was to determine if orienting the head and extremities to positions, which mimic PR patterns would alter anterior trunk musculature activation during the hollowing manoeuvre. Methods. This study compared surface electromyography (EMG) of bilateral rectus abdominis (RA), external oblique (EO), and …


Monitoring Changes In Circulating Tumour Cells As A Prognostic Indicator Of Overall Survival And Treatment Response In Patients With Metastatic Melanoma, Dragana Klinac, Elin S. Gray, James B. Freeman, Anna Reid, Samantha Bowyer, Michael Millward, Mel Ziman Jan 2014

Monitoring Changes In Circulating Tumour Cells As A Prognostic Indicator Of Overall Survival And Treatment Response In Patients With Metastatic Melanoma, Dragana Klinac, Elin S. Gray, James B. Freeman, Anna Reid, Samantha Bowyer, Michael Millward, Mel Ziman

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Background: New effective treatments for metastatic melanoma greatly improve survival in a proportion of patients. However biomarkers to identify patients that are more likely to benefit from a particular treatment are needed. We previously reported on a multimarker approach for the detection of heterogenous melanoma circulating tumour cells (CTCs). Here we evaluated the prognostic value of this multimarker quantification of CTCs and investigated whether changes in CTC levels during therapy can be used as a biomarker of treatment response and survival outcomes.Methods: CTCs were captured by targeting the melanoma associated markers MCSP and MCAM as well as the melanoma stem …


Effect Of Bdnf Val66met On Memory Decline And Hippocampal Atrophy In Prodromal Alzheimer's Disease: A Preliminary Study, Yen Y. Lim, Victor L. Villemagne, Simon M. Laws, David Ames, Robert H. Pietrzak, Kathryn A. Ellis, Karra Harrington, Pierrick Bourgeat, Ashley I. Bush, Ralph N. Martins, Colin L. Masters, Christopher C. Rowe, Paul Maruff Jan 2014

Effect Of Bdnf Val66met On Memory Decline And Hippocampal Atrophy In Prodromal Alzheimer's Disease: A Preliminary Study, Yen Y. Lim, Victor L. Villemagne, Simon M. Laws, David Ames, Robert H. Pietrzak, Kathryn A. Ellis, Karra Harrington, Pierrick Bourgeat, Ashley I. Bush, Ralph N. Martins, Colin L. Masters, Christopher C. Rowe, Paul Maruff

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Objective: Cross-sectional genetic association studies have reported equivocal results on the relationship between the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) Val66Met and risk of Alzheimer's disease (AD). As AD is a neurodegenerative disease, genetic influences may become clearer from prospective study. We aimed to determine whether BDNF Val66Met polymorphism influences changes in memory performance, hippocampal volume, and Aβ accumulation in adults with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) and high Aβ. Methods: Thirty-four adults with aMCI were recruited from the Australian, Imaging, Biomarkers and Lifestyle (AIBL) Study. Participants underwent PiB-PET and structural MRI neuroimaging, neuropsychological assessments and BDNF genotyping at baseline, 18 month, …