There are about 3753 clinical studies being (or have been) conducted in Hong Kong. The country of the clinical trial is determined by the location of where the clinical research is being studied. Most studies are often held in multiple locations & countries.
Objectives: To examine the feasibility of conducting night-time home blood pressure(BP) monitoring (during sleep) and titration of medications in the evening. This will provide data for sample size calculation for the main trial, which will examine whether night-time BP is a better target than conventional daytime BP for hypertension management. Hypothesis to be tested: night-time home BP monitoring(HBPM) and evening drug titration are acceptable to patients; and future main trial is feasible in terms of recruitment/dropout rate/medication adherence. Design and subjects: This pilot randomized-controlled trial will recruit 78 patients with nocturnal hypertension (asleep systolic BP 120mmHg on ambulatory blood pressure monitoring(ABPM)). They will be allocated in 1:1 ratio to have their medication titrated in the evening according to night HBPM (Experimental group) or in the morning according to daytime HBPM (control group) respectively. Instruments: ABPM/HBPM. Interventions: titration of the dose(s) of anti-hypertensive medications in the evening according to night HBPM (experimental group) and in the morning according to daytime HBPM (control group) every 4 weeks. Main outcome measures: ABPM at baseline and at 6 months Data analysis and expected results: The rate of recruitment/dropout and adherence to night HBPM will be presented. The feasibility of HBPM will be assessed by the patients' adherence to HBPM and by patients' interviews. ANCOVA will be used to evaluate whether titration of medication can normalize BP levels. We expect patients to have a high adherence rate and that titration of evening doses of medications will better improve night-time BP on ABPM.
Anxiety disorders are the most common mental disorders worldwide. In Hong Kong, 7% of adolescents are diagnosed with anxiety disorders, and one in every four secondary school students reports clinical-level anxiety symptoms. However, 65% of them do not access services. Long waitlists in public services, the high cost of private services, or the fear of being stigmatized can hinder service access. The high prevalence of anxiety and low intervention uptake indicate a pressing need to develop timely, scalable, and potent interventions suitable for adolescents. Single-session interventions (SSIs) have the potential to be scalable interventions for diagnosable or subclinical psychopathology in adolescents. Providing precise and context-adapted intervention is the key to achieving intervention efficacy. This study aims to compare the effectiveness of four SSIs: Single-session Intervention of Growth Mindset for Anxiety (SIGMA), SIGMA with booster messages, SSI of Growth mindset of Personality (SSI-GP), and active control using support therapy (ST), in reducing adolescent anxiety. Adolescents (N=731, aged 12-20) from secondary schools have been randomized to one of the four intervention conditions: the SIGMA, SIGMA-BOOSTER, SSI-GP, or active control. The implementation of each intervention is approximately 45 minutes in length. Adolescent participants reported anxiety symptoms, depression symptoms, and suicidal/self-hurting thoughts (primary outcomes); perceived control, hopelessness, attitude toward help-seeking and psychological well-being (secondary outcomes) at pre-intervention, the 2-week and 8-week follow-up. A pilot test has confirmed the feasibility and acceptability of SIGMA among adolescents. We hypothesized that SIGMA (including SIGMA and SIGMA-BOOSTER) and SSI-GP will result in a larger reduction in anxiety symptoms than the control intervention. We also predict SIGMA (including SIGMA and SIGMA-BOOSTER) will be more effective than SSI-GP. We will use the intention-to-treat principle and generalised estimating equation models for data analysis. This study was conducted from December 2022 to June 2023, with results expected to be available by March 2024. This protocol introduces the implementation content and strategies of growth mindset SSIs among school students. The study will provide evidence on the efficacy of different growth mindset SSIs for adolescent anxiety. It will also establish implementation strategies for self-administrative SSIs among school students, which can serve as a pioneer implementation of a scalable and self-accessible brief intervention to improve the well-being of young people.
In this project, investigators apply operations research techniques, more specifically data analytics, system simulation, mathematical modelling, and optimization, for analyzing and improving operations in the Emergency Department at the Prince of Wales Hospital. The long term goals of this project are to demonstrate that integrated approach of data analytics and systems thinking is beneficial to health service planning and to extend present work to applications in other health-service systems.
This qualitative study aims to explore lived experiences of older adults living with HIV in Hong Kong. Twenty older Chinese adults of age 50 or above will be recruited from an HIV specialist clinic providing HIV care in the public service. Qualitative, semi-structured interview will be conducted to explore risk factors contributing to life stress and adversity, and protective factors associated with resilience. The qualitative data will be delineated to propose a typology of older adults living with HIV as characterized by their unmet needs, barriers and facilitators of resilience-building.
This study hypothesizes that more adenomas will be detected using the ENDO-AID assisted Colonoscopy compared to conventional colonoscopy. A single-centre, randomized, same-day, back-to-back tandem colonoscopy trial comparing Adenoma Missed Rate and Adenoma Detection Rate in ENDO-AID assisted colonoscopy and conventional colonoscopy.
Researchers are looking for a better way to treat people who have chronic kidney disease (CKD), a long-term, progressive decrease in the kidneys' ability to work properly. When CKD happens in people with type 2 diabetes mellitus, a condition characterized by high blood sugar levels, CKD is also referred to as diabetic kidney disease (DKD). FIGARO-BM is an add-on study in which blood draws that were collected in the FIGARO-DKD study are further analyzed. No additional blood draws (also referred to as biological samples) or data will be obtained from the participants, nor will any additional or new study intervention be introduced. No visit or patient contact other than for obtaining the agreement by the patients (also called informed consent) will be required. Inflammation and scarring are both seen as responsible for worsening of chronic kidney disease. There is much information from animal studies that the study treatment finerenone (BAY94-8862) works against inflammation and against scarring (also called fibrosis) in organs such as the kidney. In this exploratory study researchers want to learn more about the study treatment finerenone (BAY94-8862). To find this out, this study will examine substances called biomarkers in blood draws from participants in the FIGARO-DKD study. Biomarkers are used as indicators of biological processes, disease processes or responses to medication. The biomarkers that will be examined stand for inflammation, organ scarring (also called fibrosis), blood vessel function and congestion. The main question of this study is whether there are differences between these biomarkers in the group of participants who received finerenone and the group of participants who received a placebo in the FIGARO-DKD study. A placebo looks like a treatment but does not have any medicine in it. To answer this question, the researchers will compare the levels of these biomarkers between the two groups at different time points after starting the study treatment. Blood samples for this study will be obtained from FIGARO-DKD study sites with a high number of participants who had been treated with finerenone or placebo for at least 24 months. This information will be combined with other information from biomarker examinations already available in the FIGARO-DKD study.
Sleep problems are very common in children with ASD, with a prevalence rate as high as 78%, and often pose significant challenges and stress to the families. Sleep problems in children with ASD are strongly associated with the exacerbation of daytime symptoms, and poor parental sleep quality and mental health. The present study is a randomised controlled trial to compare the effects of a parent-based sleep intervention for children with ASD (aged 3-6). Eligible participants will be randomised to either intervention (three consultation sessions and four follow-up phone calls) or waiting-list control condition. Assessments will be conducted at pre-treatment (baseline), and one-week after the intervention (post-treatment).
Anxiety is known to be one of the most common health concerns in in the general population, and the most common mental health issue, and has been associated with several health consequences. Medications are known to be effective, and currently serve as the primary treatment for anxiety but comes with a risk of adverse effects. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT-1) has also been shown to be effective and safer in the treatment of anxiety but presents its own limitations such as the time, cost, and training required. The relationship between vestibular stimulation and anxiety continues to be explored, however its usefulness in the treatment of anxiety is still unknown. Vestibular stimulation itself has been shown to be safe across multiple populations. If vestibular stimulation is shown to be effective in the treatment of anxiety, it could serve as a safer alternative to medications. It could also require less cost, time, and training than CBT-1, providing a treatment option that is not only safe and effective, but broadly available to the general population. It also could present an alternative intervention for patients who are non-responsive or refuse medication. Consequently this trial seeks to evaluate the efficacy of non-invasive electrical vestibular nerve stimulation as a method of improving sleep quality and quantity, as compared to a sham control, in patients newly diagnosed with anxiety.
This study investigates the effects of parenting interventions on improving the emotion regulation and functioning of the children with AD/HD as well as their parents' parenting practices and psychological well-being. Two kinds of parenting interventions are selected in this study, namely the Mindful Parenting and Tuning in to Kids programs. The value of this project lies in empowering parents through parenting techniques which they can use both for themselves and for their daily interactions with children. It is hoped to alleviate their stress from the role of parenting children with special needs, which may in turn lead to their better psychological well-being and greater harmony in the families.
This study delivered an adventure-based cognitive behavioral intervention program to a group of Hong Kong university students. The program effectiveness was evaluated by a randomized controlled trial in reducing psychological distress and improving mental health of these students. The 3-month maintenance effect was also tested.