Analytical, Diagnostic and Therapeutic Techniques and Equipment Commons^™

Assessment Of The Clinical Validity Of Ctdna Analysis For Melanoma Management, Anda-Gabriela Marsavela

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Metastatic melanoma is responsible for almost 80% of all skin cancer-related deaths and the incidence of people affected continues to rise worldwide. The emergence of targeted therapy and immune-checkpoint inhibitors has improved the clinical management of melanoma, but durable survival benefit is only seen in a minority of patients. The use of these very expensive systemic therapies on all appropriate patients also poses a high economic burden on health systems across numerous countries. Currently, surveillance for treatment failure is not optimal. Thus, reliable and accurate biomarkers of patient disease status are urgently required.

Circulating tumour DNA (ctDNA) analysis has emerged …

Appraisal Of Free Online Symptom Checkers And Applications For Self-Diagnosis And Triage: An Australian Evaluation, Michella Gaye Hill

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The internet has impacted society and changed the way companies and individuals operate on a daily basis. Seeking information online via computer or mobile device is common practice. The phrase ‘Google it’ is now part of modern vernacular and is a resource increasingly utilised by young and old alike. Around 80% of Australian’s search health-related information online as it is convenient, cheap, and available 24/7. Symptom checkers are one tool used by consumers to investigate their health issues. Symptom checkers are automated online programs which use computerised algorithms, asking a series of questions to help determine a potential diagnosis and/or …

Cerebrospinal Fluid Neurofilament Light Concentration Predicts Brain Atrophy And Cognition In Alzheimer's Disease, Kunal Dhiman, Veer Bala Gupta, Victor L. Villemagne, Dhamidhu Eratne, Petra L. Graham, Christopher Fowler, Pierrick Bourgeat, Qiao-Xin Li, Steven Collins, Ashley I. Bush, Christopher C. Rowe, Colin L. Masters, David Ames, Eugene Hone, Kaj Blennow, Henrik Zetterberg, Ralph N. Martins

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Introduction
This study assessed the utility of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) neurofilament light (NfL) in Alzheimer's disease (AD) diagnosis, its association with amyloid and tau pathology, as well as its potential to predict brain atrophy, cognition, and amyloid accumulation.
Methods
CSF NfL concentration was measured in 221 participants from the Australian Imaging, Biomarkers & Lifestyle Flagship Study of Ageing (AIBL).
Results
CSF NfL levels as well as NfL/amyloid β (Aβ42) were significantly elevated in AD compared to healthy controls (HC; P < .001), and in mild cognitive impairment (MCI) compared to HC (P = .008 NfL; P< .001 NfL/Aβ42). CSF NfL and NfL/Aβ42 differentiated AD from HC with an area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve (AUC) of 0.84 and 0.90, respectively. CSF NfL and NfL/Aβ42 predicted cortical amyloid load, brain atrophy, and cognition.
Discussion
CSF NfL is a biomarker of neurodegeneration, correlating with cognitive impairment and brain neuropathology.

Detection Of Hfe Haemochromatosis In The Clinic And Community Using Standard Erythrocyte Tests, Niwansa Adris, Simon Hazeldine, Peter Bentley, Debbie Trinder, Anita C.G. Chua, Lawrie W. Powell, Louise E. Ramm, Grant A. Ramm, John K. Olynyk

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Detection of HFE Haemochromatosis (HH) is challenging in the absence of clinical features. HH subjects have elevated erythrocyte parameters compared to those without HH, but it remains unclear how this could be applied in clinical practice. Thus, we determined the sensitivity, specificity and clinical utility of erythrocyte parameters in 144 HH subjects with (n = 122) or without (n = 22) clinical and/or biochemical expression of iron overload, 1844 general population controls, and 700 chronic disease subjects. For both expressing and non-expressing HH subjects, the mean pre- and post-phlebotomy values of mean cell volume (MCV) and mean cell haemoglobin (MCH) …

Locus‐Specific Concordance Of Genomic Alterations Between Tissue And Plasma Circulating Tumor Dna In Metastatic Melanoma, Leslie Calapre, Tindaro Giardina, Cleo Robinson, Anna L. Reid, Zeyad Al-Ogaili, Michelle R. Pereira, Ashleigh C. Mcevoy, Lydia Warburton, Nicholas K. Hayward, Muhammad A. Khattak, Tarek M. Meniawy, Michael Millward, Benhur Amanuel, Melanie R. Ziman, Elin S. Gray

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) may serve as a surrogate to tissue biopsy for noninvasive identification of mutations across multiple genetic loci and for disease monitoring in melanoma. In this study, we compared the mutation profiles of tumor biopsies and plasma ctDNA from metastatic melanoma patients using custom sequencing panels targeting 30 melanoma-associated genes. Somatic mutations were identified in 20 of 24 melanoma biopsies, and 16 of 20 (70%) matched-patient plasmas had detectable ctDNA. In a subgroup of seven patients for whom matching tumor tissue and plasma were sequenced, 80% of the mutations found in tumor tissue were also detected in …

Dna Methylation Of The Clusterin Promoter: Associations With Alzheimer’S Disease Risk And Related Phenotypes, Madeline Peretti

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Background

In 2017 approximately 50 million people worldwide were living with dementia. With Alzheimer’s disease (AD), accounting for 50-70% of dementia cases making this debilitating disease, with no current effective prevention, treatment or cure, a critical healthcare concern. Genome wide association studies (GWAS) have identified a number of risk genes for late onset AD (LOAD); Apolipoprotein E (APOE), a gene involved in the cholesterol/lipid pathway is considered the gene with the greatest risk. The third most associated AD risk gene is Clusterin (CLU), is also involved in the cholesterol/lipid pathway. CLU has been implicated in both …

Monitoring Melanoma Recurrence With Circulating Tumor Dna: A Proof Of Concept From Three Case Studies, Ashleigh C. Mcevoy, Michelle R. Pereira, Anna Reid, Robert Pearce, Lester Cowell, Zeyad Al-Ogaili, Muhammad A. Khattak, Michael Millward, Tarek M. Meniawy, Elin S. Gray, Melanie R. Ziman

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Background: A significant number of melanoma patients experience recurrence to distant sites, despite having had surgical treatment of the primary lesion, with curative intent. Monitoring of patients for early evidence of disease recurrence would significantly improve management of the disease, allowing timely therapeutic intervention. Circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) is becoming a well-recognized biomarker for monitoring malignancies and has, in a few studies, been shown to signify disease recurrence earlier than conventional methods.

Methods: We performed a retrospective analysis of plasma ctDNA using droplet digital PCR (ddPCR) in 30 primary melanoma patients with tumors harboring BRAF, NRAS or TERT promoter mutations. …

Immunomagnetic-Enriched Subpopulations Of Melanoma Circulating Tumour Cells (Ctcs) Exhibit Distinct Transcriptome Profiles, Carlos Aya-Bonilla, Elin S. Gray, Jayapal Manikandan, James B. Freeman, Pauline Zaenker, Anna L. Reid, Muhammad A. Khattak, Markus H. Frank, Michael Millward, Mel Ziman

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Cutaneous melanoma circulating tumour cells (CTCs) are phenotypically and molecularly heterogeneous. We profiled the gene expression of CTC subpopulations immunomagnetic-captured by targeting either the melanoma-associated marker, MCSP, or the melanoma-initiating marker, ABCB5. Firstly, the expression of a subset of melanoma genes was investigated by RT-PCR in MCSP-enriched and ABCB5-enriched CTCs isolated from a total of 59 blood draws from 39 melanoma cases. Of these, 6 MCSP-and 6 ABCB5-enriched CTC fractions were further analysed using a genome-wide gene expression microarray. The transcriptional programs of both CTC subtypes included cell survival maintenance, cell proliferation, and migration pathways. ABCB5-enriched CTCs were specifically characterised …

Fasting Salivary Glucose Levels Is Not A Better Measure For Identifying Diabetes Mellitus Than Serum Or Capillary Blood Glucose Levels: Comparison In A Ghanaian Population, Richard K.D. Ephraim, Enoch Odame Anto, Emmanuel Acheampong, Linda Ahenkorah Fondjo, Richmond B. Barnie, Samuel Asamoah Sakyi, Ambrose Asare

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Aims/introduction: We compared the diagnostic performance and correlation between salivary, serum and capillary blood glucose of diabetes and non-diabetes patients. Early detection of diabetes mellitus (DM) contributes to the prevention of complications and management. Materials and methods: This case-control study was conducted among a total of 138 participants comprising 79 newly diagnosed diabetes patients (cases) and 59 non-diabetes patients (controls). Fasting salivary glucose (FSLG), fasting serum glucose (FSEG) levels and fasting capillary whole blood glucose (FCWBG) level were assayed for each participant. Results: The mean FSLG, FSEG and FCWBG levels were significantly higher among the cases compared to controls (p …

The Cryopreservation Of Human Semen, And Subsequent Evaluation Of A Commercially-Available Device To Isolate Motile Sperm, Callum Andrew Robinson

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The cryopreservation of human semen is a vital asset in assisted reproductive technologies (ART). Although advances have been in the freezing of sperm, further refinement is both necessary and ongoing. Computer-assisted semen analysis (CASA) has been increasingly utilised in both research and diagnostic however there are a range of variables that must first be controlled in order to produce reliable measurements. Following thawing, sperm must be isolated from both the original seminal plasma and the cryoprotectants; the two most used isolation methods include density gradient centrifugation (DGC) and the swim-up method.

The present thesis sought to investigate the following areas …

Low-Level Cadmium Exposure And Cardiovascular Outcomes In Elderly Australian Women: A Cohort Study, Kane Deering, Anna C. Callan, Richard Prince, Wai Lim, Peter Thompson, Joshua Lewis, Andrea Hinwood, Amanda Devine

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Background

Cadmium has been associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in observational studies, however there has been a limited focus on this relationship in women.

Objectives

This study investigated the association of urinary cadmium (UCd) concentrations with CVD outcomes and all-cause mortality in elderly Western Australian (WA) women.

Methods

UCd excretion was measured at baseline in 1359 women, mean age 75.2 ± 2.7 years and 14.5 years of atherosclerotic vascular disease (ASVD) hospitalisations and deaths, including both the principle cause of death and all associated causes of death. Health outcome data were retrieved from the Western Australian Data …

Circulating Tumour Dna: A Non-Invasive Biomarker For Melanoma, Ashleigh Cavell Mcevoy

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Cutaneous melanoma accounts for 90% of all skin cancer deaths (Balch et al., 2010) and is responsible for 3.6% of deaths from cancer in Australia (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2016). Whilst early detection and successful surgical removal of primary melanomas have improved survival rates (DeSantis et al., 2014), approximately 30% of these patients will have disease recurrence at some point in their lives (Soong et al., 1992; Soong et al., 1998). This is despite being considered disease free following treatment, which may have included surgical removal of the primary and/or its metastasis/es, radiation and/or systemic therapy. Whilst the …

The Utility Of Multidisciplinary Rehabilitation As A Treatment Strategy For Circadian Rhythm And Sleep Disturbances In Premanifest Huntington’S Disease, Danielle Megan Bartlett

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Background: Huntington’s disease (HD) is a rare, neurodegenerative disease caused by an expanded cytosine-adenine-guanine (CAG) sequence in the Huntingtin gene, resulting in the production of an aberrant protein, mutant huntingtin (mHTT). The mHTT protein exhibits a toxic loss and gain in function, leading to degeneration of neurons in the brain. Consequently, the classic triad of motor, cognitive and mood features of the disease develop. Among the earliest features of HD are circadian rhythm and sleep disturbances. These anomalies present many years prior to formal clinical diagnosis of HD and, while it has been postulated that these disturbances arise as a …

Ultrasound Measurements On The Inferior Vena Cava By Renal Nursing Staff For Assessment And Management Of Intravascular Volume Status In Haemodialysis Patients, Ulrich Steinwandel

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Title: Ultrasound measurements on the inferior vena cava (IVC-US) by renal nursing staff for assessment and management of intravascular volume status in haemodialysis patients.

Aims: The primary aim of this thesis was to provide evidence that renal nurses could safely and efficiently perform IVC-US on haemodialysis patients to obtain objective assessment of intravascular volume status and potentially reduce adverse events and morbidity. The secondary aims for this study were: (1) conduct a systematic literature review to identify evidence if renal nurses have previously used this method for intravascular volume assessment; (2) teach a renal nurse through a staged educational programme, …

N-Glycosylation Profiles As A Risk Stratification Biomarker For Type Ii Diabetes Mellitus And Its Associated Factors, Eric Adua

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Worldwide, the prevalence of cardiometabolic diseases, particularly type II diabetes mellitus (T2DM), and to a lesser extent, metabolic syndrome (MetS), has increased dramatically. Despite this increase, there is still a lack of robust biomarkers for cardiometabolic diseases to secure better clinical outcomes. The enzymatic attachment of oligosaccharides (glycans) to proteins-glycosylation is of metabolic and physiological significance, as exploring aberrations of glycosylation profiles can reveal novel biomarkers. In parallel, this process could also explain the biological mechanisms that underpin a suboptimal health status (SHS), a reversible subclinical stage of a cardiometabolic disease. However, studies on the correlation between glycosylation and MetS/T2DM …

Predictors Of Noncompliance To Antihypertensive Therapy Among Hypertensive Patients Ghana: Application Of Health Belief Model, Yaa Obirikorang, Christian Obirikorang, Emmanuel Acheampong, Enoch Odame Anto, Daniel Gyamfi, Selorm Philip Segbefia, Michael Opoku Boateng, Dari Pascal Dapilla, Peter Kojo Brenya, Bright Amankwaa, Evans Asamoah Adu, Emmanuel Nsenbah Batu, Adjei Gyimah Akwasi, Beatrice Amoah

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

This study determined noncompliance to antihypertensive therapy (AHT) and its associated factors in a Ghanaian population by using the health belief model (HBM). This descriptive cross-sectional study conducted at Kintampo Municipality in Ghana recruited a total of 678 hypertensive patients. The questionnaire constituted information regarding sociodemographics, a five-Likert type HBM questionnaire, and lifestyle-related factors. The rate of noncompliance to AHT in this study was 58.6%. The mean age (SD) of the participants was 43.5 (±5.2) years and median duration of hypertension was 2 years. Overall, the five HBM constructs explained 31.7% of the variance in noncompliance to AHT with a …

Evaluation Of Individual And Combined Markers Of Urine Dipstick Parameters And Total Lymphocyte Count As A Substitute For Cd4 Count In Low-Resource Communities In Ghana, Enoch Odame Anto, Christian Obirikorang, Emmanuel Acheampong, Bright Amankwaa, Bright Oppong Afranie, Sampson Donkor, Isaac Hope, Juliana Jommo, Esther Osaah

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

We evaluated the individual and combined levels of urine dipstick and total lymphocyte count (TLC) as surrogate markers for CD4 count in a low-resource community in Ghana. This cross-sectional study recruited 200 HIV-infected patients from the Saint Francis Xavier Hospital, Assin Fosu, Ghana. Complete blood count, CD4 count, and urine dipstick analysis were measured for participants. The threshold values were determined as/

Inactivation Of Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress And The Prevention Of Neurodegenerative Diseases, Ian James Martins

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Biotherapeutics and nutritional therapy are essential for the treatment of endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress in diabetes and neurodegenerative diseases. Oxidative stress and nutrient excess may induce ER stress associated with activation of the unfolded protein response and connected to cell death. The heat shock gene Sirtuin 1 (Sirt 1) is important to the heat shock response with amyloid beta aggregation associated with the induction of mitophagy and ER stress in neuron cells. Genomic medicine that activates nuclear Sirt 1 is essential for the prevention of mitochondrial apoptosis and ER stress. Inhibitors such as drugs, alcohol, excess caffeine and palmitic acid …

Myocardial Infarction In The Wisconsin Longitudinal Study: The Interaction Among Environmental, Health, Social, Behavioural And Genetic Factors, Tina K. Gonzales, James A. Yonker, Vicky Chang, Carol L. Roan, Pamela Herd, Craig S. Atwood

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Objectives:

This study examined how environmental, health, social, behavioural and genetic factors interact to contribute to myocardial infarction (MI) risk.

Design:

Survey data collected by Wisconsin Longitudinal Study (WLS), USA, from 1957 to 2011, including 235 environmental, health, social and behavioural factors, and 77 single- nucleotide polymorphisms were analysed for association with MI. To identify associations with MI we utilized recursive partitioning and random forest prior to logistic regression and chi-squared analyses.

Participants:

6198 WLS participants (2938 men; 3260 women) who (1) had a MI before 72 years and (2) had a MI between 65 and 72 years. …

Total Volume And Composition Of Fluid Intake And Mortality In Older Women: A Cohort Study, Wai H. Lim, Germaine Wong, Joshua R. Lewis, Charmaine E. Lok, Kevan R. Polkinghorne, Jonathan M. Hodgson, Ee M. Lim, Richard L. Prince

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Objectives:

The health benefits of ‘drinking at least 8 glasses of water a day” in healthy individuals are largely unproven. We aimed to examine the relationship between total fluid and the sources of fluid consumption, risk of rapid renal decline, cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality and all-cause mortality in elderly women.

Design, setting and participants:

We conducted a longitudinal analysis of a population-based cohort study of 1055 women aged ≥70 years residing in Australia.

Main outcome measures The associations between total daily fluid intake (defined as total volume of beverage excluding alcohol and milk) and the types of fluid (water, …

Conjugated Linoleic Acid Administration Induces Amnesia In Male Sprague Dawley Rats And Exacerbates Recovery From Functional Deficits Induced By A Controlled Cortical Impact Injury, Rastafa I. Gedde, Kentaro Hayashi, Quinn Bongers, Marlyse Wehber, Icelle M. Anderson, Alex D. Jansen, Chase Nier, Emily Fares, Gabrielle Farquhar, Amita Kapoor, Toni E. Ziegler, Sivan Vadakkadath Meethal, Ian M. Bird, Craig S. Atwood

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids like conjugated linoleic acids (CLA) are required for normal neural development and cognitive function and have been ascribed various beneficial functions. Recently, oral CLA also has been shown to increase testosterone (T) biosynthesis, which is known to diminish traumatic brain injury (TBI)-induced neuropathology and reduce deficits induced by stroke in adult rats. To test the impact of CLA on cognitive recovery following a TBI, 5–6 month old male Sprague Dawley rats received a focal injury (craniectomy + controlled cortical impact (CCI; n = 17)) or Sham injury (craniectomy alone; n = 12) and were injected with …

An Assessment Of Nurses’ Experiences Of Work Related Stress Through Self-Reporting And Hair Cortisol Analysis, In A Metropolitan Hospital In Western Australia, Kim Oliver

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The aim of this study was to assess how years of experience and practice area influence work related stress amongst 1,200 nurses employed in a metropolitan hospital environment in Western Australia. A combination of self-administered questionnaires and hair cortisol, an objective stress biomarker, was utilised to measure stress levels and to relate these to practice area, age and experience. Questionnaire results indicated that there was a higher level of perceived stress for 40% of this cohort of nurses; the study methodology was able to unearth noteworthy factors within a local WA nursing population that impacted on their perceived stress. These …

Real-Time Netnography: Rejecting The Passive Shift, Leesa Costello, Marie-Louise Mcdermott

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Although netnography emerged in the 1990s, it is a term unfamiliar to many ethnographers and is still touted as a new methodology. Once explained, ethnographers often understand it in terms of online ethnography. While this is helpful, netnography, however, offers a set of steps and analytic approaches that can be applied across a spectrum of involvement online. Its focus is on gaining entree to an online community, distinguishing between participant observation and nonparticipant observation.

An Algorithm For Extracting The Ppg Baseline Drift In Real-Time, Tuan Ngoc Nguyen

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Photoplethysmography is an optical technique for measuring the perfusion of blood in skin and tissue arterial vessels. Due to its simplicity, accessibility and abundance of information on an individual’s cardiovascular system, it has been a pervasive topic of research within recent years. With these benefits however there are many challenges concerning the processing and conditioning of the signal in order to allow information to be extracted. One such challenge is removing the baseline drift of the signal, which is caused by respiratory rate, muscle tremor and physiological changes within the body as a response to various stimuli.

Over the years …

1h-Nmr Urinary Metabolomic Profiling For Diagnosis Of Gastric Cancer, Angela W. Chan, Pascal Mercier, Daniel Schiller, Robert Bailey, Sarah Robbins, Dean T. Eurich, Michael B. Sawyer, David Broadhurst

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Background:

Metabolomics has shown promise in gastric cancer (GC) detection. This research sought to identify whether GC has a unique urinary metabolomic profile compared with benign gastric disease (BN) and healthy (HE) patients.

Methods:

Urine from 43 GC, 40 BN, and 40 matched HE patients was analysed using ¹H nuclear magnetic resonance (¹H-NMR) spectroscopy, generating 77 reproducible metabolites (QC-RSD < 25%). Univariate and multivariate (MVA) statistics were employed. A parsimonious biomarker profile of GC vs HE was investigated using LASSO regularised logistic regression (LASSO-LR). Model performance was assessed using Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curves.

Results:

GC displayed a clear discriminatory biomarker profile; the BN profile overlapped with GC and HE. LASSO-LR identified …

Reductions In Circulating Levels Of Il-16, Il-7 And Vegf-A In Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Abdolamir Landi, David Broadhurst, Suxanne D. Vernon, D. Lorne J. Tyrell, Michael Houghton

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Recently, differences in the levels of various chemokines and cytokines were reported in patients with myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) as compared with controls. Moreover, the analyte profile differed between chronic ME/CFS patients of long duration versus patients with disease of less than 3 years. In the current study, we measured the plasma levels of 34 cytokines, chemokines and growth factors in 100 chronic ME/CFS patients of long duration and in 79 gender and age-matched controls. We observed highly significant reductions in the concentration of circulating interleukin (IL)-16, IL-7, and Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A (VEGF-A) in ME/CFS patients. All …

The Effectiveness Of Self-Management Mobile Phone And Tablet Apps In Long-Term Condition Management: A Systematic Review, Lisa Whitehead, Philippa Seaton

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Background:

Long-term conditions and their concomitant management place considerable pressure on patients, communities, and health care systems worldwide. International clinical guidelines on the majority of long-term conditions recommend the inclusion of self-management programs in routine management. Self-management programs have been associated with improved health outcomes; however, the successful and sustainable transfer of research programs into clinical practice has been inconsistent. Recent developments in mobile technology, such as mobile phone and tablet computer apps, could help in developing a platform for the delivery of self-management interventions that are adaptable, of low cost, and easily accessible.

Objective:

We conducted a systematic review …

Discriminant Validity Of The Hospital Anxiety And Depression Scale, Beck Depression Inventory (Ii) And Beck Anxiety Inventory To Confirmed Clinical Diagnosis Of Depression And Anxiety In Patients With Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, Tina Phan, Owen Carter, Claire Adams, Grant Waterer, Li Ping Chung, Maxine Hawkins, Cobie Rudd, Mel R. Ziman, Natalie Strobel

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

The objective of this study was to investigate the discriminant validity of commonly used depresson and anxiety screening tools in order to determine the most suitable tool for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). COPD patients (n = 56) completed the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II) and Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI). These scores were compared to confirmed clinical diagnosis of depression and anxiety using the Mini Neuropsychiatric Interview. HADS depression subscale (HADS-D) sensitivity/specificity was 78/81 %; BDI-II 89/77 %; HADS anxiety subscale (HADS-A) 71/81 %; and BAI 89/62 %. HADS-D sensitivity/specificity was improved …

The Effects Of Testosterone Supplementation On Cognitive Functioning In Older Men, Eka Wahjoepramono, Prita Asih, Vilia Aniwiyanti, Kevin Taddei, Satvinder Dhaliwal, Stephanie Fuller, Jonathan Foster, Malcolm Carruthers, Giuseppe Verdile, Hamid R. Sohrabi, Ralph Martins

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Reduction in testosterone levels in men during aging is associated with cognitive decline and risk of dementia. Animal studies have shown benefits for testosterone supplementation in improving cognition and reducing Alzheimer’s disease pathology. In a randomized, placebo-controlled, crossover study of men with subjective memory complaint and low testosterone levels, we investigated whether testosterone treatment significantly improved performance on various measures of cognitive functioning. Forty-four men were administered a battery of neuropsychological tests to establish the baseline prior to being randomly divided into two groups. The first group (Group A) received 24 weeks of testosterone treatment (T treatment) followed by 4 …

Developing And Evaluating Complex Interventions: Enhancing The Role Of Qualitative Research, Lisa Whitehead, Marie Crowe, Carol Bugge, Kirsten Coppell

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

The use of qualitative research methods alongside randomized controlled trials of health-care interventions have the potential to contribute to the development and evaluation of both complex and other health interventions. Qualitative evaluations of interventions are rarely reported but can provide insight into the intervention process, and the feasibility and acceptability of the intervention, to improve and adapt interventions.