There are more than 498,563 clinical trials published worldwide with over 60,000 trials that are currently either recruiting or not yet recruiting. Use our filters on this page to find more information on current clinical trials or past clinical trials (free or paid) for study purposes and read about their results.
Nurses play an important role in helping patients to manage symptoms, adhere to treatment, and change behavior. There has been a lack of research regarding nonpharmacologic interventions with patients with heart failure and other chronic conditions.
Heart failure is a major public health burden in the United States characterized by increased morbidity and mortality, and reduce exercise capacity with distressing symptoms of dyspnea and fatigue. Evaluating the effects of complementary intervention (such as exercise training) on functional status and QOL are clinically important and relevant to HF patients. In the last decade, hospital-based and a home bicycle exercise programs for HF have been shown to improve peak oxygen consumption (VO2) and symptom scores, and restore autonomic balance. These programs may be costly for patients to perform. Improved peak VO2 may not necessarily translate into improved functional status and quality of life. To date, the effects of a home walking exercise program alone on functional status, QOL and autonomic tone has not been evaluated.
Cancer pain is a pervasive problem for the person with cancer. Despite advances in knowledge, effective cancer management is infrequently achieved. While this problem is multi-factorial, the patient may have attitudinal barriers to effective pain management that can be ameliorated with novel interventions.
The decision regarding the use of post-menopausal estrogen hormone replacement therapy (HT) is complex because patients must balance the short and long-term risks and benefits. Information from new and important clinical trials must also be considered. The purpose of this research is to develop and evaluate the efficacy of a HT CD-ROM decision-aid in improving the decision making process for women considering the use of estrogen HT.
Of 17 performance measures of hospital quality regularly reported for the Veterans Administration (VA) health care system, rates of colorectal cancer screening are the lowest.
Newly diagnosed localized prostate cancer patients face difficult decisions about treatment and management; including radiation therapy, radical prostatectomy, brachytherapy, and observation. Previous studies have cited patient preference and physician recommendation for treatment as major roles in treatment decisions.
Smoking cessation interventions including behavioral and pharmacological components have been demonstrated to be both effective and cost-effective. Although there is a high prevalence of smoking and smoking-related disorders among veterans who use VA medical centers for health care, rates of identification of tobacco use and provision of brief and/or intensive smoking cessation services are suboptimal. Telephone outreach (TO) may serve to increase access to counseling and medications to assist smoking cessation. From the standpoint of health systems, TO provides the opportunity for centralized oversight and quality assurance, economy of scale, and dissemination strategies that are practical to implement. At the provider level, TO addresses barriers to delivery of services such as limited time and skills. From the standpoint of the smoker, attractions of TO include accessibility, convenience, and privacy.
Schizophrenia exacts a high toll on the lives of patients and their families and constitutes a major health care cost. VISN 5 has placed special emphasis on improving care for veterans with severe mental disorders, an effort recently recognized by the VA as a Program of Excellence in the Care of Seriously Mentally Ill Veterans.
Smoking is a serious and common health risk among veterans. Given the press of national initiatives and local incentives to improve smoking cessation care in response to VA performance measures, this study tests a widely applicable approach to clinical practice guidelines implementation, namely evidence-based quality improvement, which is directly relevant to the translation of efficacious treatments into enhancements in VA health care policy and practice. Evidence-Based Quality Improvement (EBQI) focuses on improved provider adherence to smoking cessation guidelines and a decrease in patient smoking rates in a manner designed to produce short- and long-term health improvements and cost benefits at the organizational level.
Schizophrenia, a chronic psychiatric disorder, is the second most frequent VA discharge diagnosis. Medication management practices for schizophrenia often are not guideline-concordant and place patients at risk for adverse outcomes. This project tests a new strategy to standard implementation for VHA Schizophrenia Guidelines.