There are about 25228 clinical studies being (or have been) conducted in United Kingdom. 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.
People who have suffered a stroke are at high risk of suffering from oropharyngeal dysphagia with long and intensive exercise programmes. Early access to treatment and engaging therapies is very important for recovery. Immersive virtual reality technology presents an innovative treatment that could help patients improve swallowing. The aim of this study is to improve swallowing in stroke patients using two bespoke immersive virtual reality treatment with real-time feedback. The study consisted in a small feasibility study with stroke patients suffering dysphagia (n = 6, aged of 39 to 80 (M=71.17, SD=15.94). Results obtained through interviews with the patients indicated no discomfort reported during the game. All patients reported enjoying the game and feeling engaged and immersive and four out of six patients reported that they would like to use it every day as part of their Speech and Language therapy. The SALT assistant involved in the study stated that the system had the potential to encourage patients to swallow, being more functional than conventional speech therapy. She identified improvements needed for a better functioning of the VR rehabilitation system for Dysphagia. In a future study, wireless headsets will be used, without a laptop, and it will be important to improve the reliability and design of the strain gauge or innovate in the use of a different technology.
United Kingdom National Bariatric Surgery Registry (NBSR) records between 1st June 2017 and 23rd November 2022 were used to identify people undergoing primary bariatric (weight-loss) surgery. People undergoing primary bariatric (weight-loss) surgery with one baseline and at least one follow-up visit within one year from surgery were included. Statistical models were used to estimate the relationship between quality of life as assessed by a questionnaire and body mass index at baseline and over time.
The goal of this Prospective, single-site, cohort study is to validate rigid gas permeable corneal contact lens (RGP) designs for keratoconus derived from combining the data from corneal topography scans and contact lenses ordered in patients with keratoconus (KC) attending a UK tertiary NHS Hospital contact lens clinic. The main questions it aims to answer are: - Does a Scheimpflug topography derived RGP contact lens design for keratoconus have the equivalent overall contact lens fit as the patients' own lens? - Is the number of trial lenses required to fit a patient is reduced compared to standard practice? - Is the time taken to fit a contact lens is reduced compared to standard practice? - Is there user acceptance of the new lens? - Are the Axial ege lift (AEL) changes clinically significant? There will be 3 work packages WP1: For each participant data collection will take place over two visits. • Visit 1: Pentacam topography scans and optimal 'virtual' lens selection will take place. • • Visit 2: Participants are fitted with 4 contact lenses (i) the optimal lens design as specified by the virtual fitting module, (ii) a contact lens with a clinically significant step flatter AEL (iii) a contact lens steeper in axial edge lift (AEL) (iv) the participant's own contact lens. Each CL fit will be assessed with slit lamp photography according to the standardised method proposed by Wolffsohn et al. (2013), Anterior segment OCT MS39) (CSO Hansom Instruments, UK) and best-corrected visual acuity with each lens design using high-contrast logMAR . WP2. Participants will attend one appointment where a traditional lens fit, and a lens fitted using the topography guided 'virtual' module will be undertaken (with the fitting method selected for each eye randomised). For each fitting method the total fitting time will be measured and the total number of trial contact lenses used. Patients will be invited to complete a questionnaire that probes their satisfaction of this process. WP3. Clinicians not involved in the study will be invited to examine a demo version of the virtual fitting module and complete the validated system usability scale tool.
The purpose of this study is to develop robust protocols for the optimisation of novel hardware, software and exercise equipment in the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) environment in various cohorts with cardiovascular disease (CVD) with the first study focusing on those with established heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) or those at risk of or with pre-HFpEF.
This study aims to investigate acceptability and feasibility of a new version of the Imaginator intervention, Imaginator 2.0, targeting self-harm behaviour in young people aged 12-25 under mental health services in the UK. Following an initial proof-of-concept study of Imaginator (Di Simplicio et al., 2020), we co-designed a new version of the app that supports consolidation and practice of the techniques learnt in therapy, and adapted the protocol to be extended to younger adolescents. Imaginator 2.0 uses 'functional imagery training', training in individuals to develop and use functional (that is, helpful) mental images to support an alternative behaviour instead of self-harm. Mental imagery is the process of picturing something in the mind, and mental images have strong emotional and motivational characteristics. Functional Imagery Training (FIT) within Imaginator helps young people imagine adaptive behaviours as an alternative to self-harm when dealing with distressing emotions.
St Bartholomew's hospital completed a study using the regimen GAMEC (PEG-filgrastim, actinomycin-D, methotrexate, etoposide, cisplatin). The results of this study showed that 50% of patients with relapsed testicular cancer could be cured using this treatment. These results are very encouraging and compare very favourably to other treatment protocols. In reviewing this study, it became clear that of the 5 cycles of treatment which were proposed, the first 3 seemed to matter and the last 2 did not appear important. In addition there was a group of patients who appeared to do particularly well namely patients under the age of 35 and those who had a normal LDH (lactate dehydrogenase). LDH is a blood test which monitors cancer activity. Selecting patients which fill both these criteria, this trial aims to see whether the investigators can maintain the good results the investigators have seen but using only 3 cycles of treatment. This will therefore shorten the treatment from 10 weeks to 6 weeks, thus reducing the side effects.
The use of self-administered mindfulness interventions has increased in recent years. The effectiveness of these interventions on regulating stress/emotions, however, is debated. In the present multi-site study (Nsites = x, Nparticipants = x), the investigators aimed to investigate the effectiveness of four single, brief stand-alone mindfulness exercises in a population unfamiliar with mindfulness meditation. The investigators tested these four interventions in comparison to non-mindful active control conditions using an adaptive Bayesian design. The investigators found [evidence for the efficacy of x exercises/no evidence for the efficacy of x exercises] with an estimated mean effect size of [xx/xx]. This means that… or The investigators recommend that… [recommendation will be provided].
Newborn bloodspot screening (from now on referred to as screening) for cystic fibrosis (CF) became part of the national screening programme in 2007. Screening for CF is also well established internationally. The current process works well but has some disadvantages: carrier reporting - which is not the intention of CF screening in the UK (~200 pa); need for repeat samples which can be costly and contribute to parental worry (~300 pa.); mutation panels not fully reflecting the ethnic diversity of the birth population; identification of children designated as CF screen positive, inconclusive diagnosis (CFSPID) which can cause uncertainty (~20-30 pa). A trial of NGS in one centre in the UK, for one year found that it was technically feasible at reasonable cost and with an acceptable turn around time. In addition, the trial determined that using NGS could mitigate against some of the disadvantages described above. The purpose of this piece of work was to: 1. Gather, compare and analyse the views of a range of stakeholders on the proposed CF screening protocol incorporating NGS. 2. Use the outcomes to inform discussions and decisions by the fetal, maternal and child health (FMCH) group and UK National Screening Committee (NSC) about the proposed protocol 3. Consider what generalisable information on the views of stakeholders on newborn screening could be generated from this exercise to inform other FMCH and UK NSC discussions 4. Evaluate and learn from the exercise to inform future stakeholder engagement activities by the UK NSC and screening programmes.
A key area of obesity research has focused on the link between appetite, energy balance and weight control. Within this area, several appetite-related hormones and cellular cytokines have been identified as key signals influencing appetite and food intake. This includes the appetite-suppressing hormone oxyntomodulin (OXM) and a cellular stress-induced cytokine growth differentiation factor 15 (GDF-15). The aims of this study are: (1) to investigate the effect of acute moderate-intensity continuous exercise on oxyntomodulin and GDF-15 concentrations; (2) to investigate whether exercise-induced changes in circulating OXM and GDF-15 concentrations are correlated with subjective appetite perceptions and subsequent energy intake.
The study aims to assess if a 16-week drop jump intervention from different heights shows different bone adaptations. Participants will complete four visits over a period of 16 weeks. An initial consultation will be conducted to ensure participants meet the inclusion criteria following participant recruitment. Estimated load being applied to the bone, will be assessed using non-invasive biomechanical procedures (Inertial Measurement Units, motion analysis, force plates) during drop jumps. Participants will be assigned a drop jump height of 0 cm, 30 cm or 60 cm based on a significant difference in external load at these heights or assigned to a control group where no jumps will be performed. Groups will be matched for body mass to ensure that jump height produces the load. The participants will be asked to perform 40 jumps (20 each side), 4 times per week ensuring jumping bouts are separated by 24 hours. Bone characteristics will be assessed via whole body dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) scans and bilateral peripheral Quantitative Computed Tomography (pQCT) scans. Lab based jumping will take place on week 0, week 6, week 12, and week 16 to understand the loading applied during the different jump height groups. pQCT scans will take place on week 0, week 12, week 16 and DXA scans will take place week 0 and week 16. The reasoning of week 12 for pQCT being it may show a significant timepoint for bone formation during the remodelling cycle. During visits participants will complete a health screen, the Bone specific Physical Activity Questionnaire (BPAQ), a food frequency questionnaire and Pittsburgh sleep quality questionnaire alongside consent as tools to monitor any changes to participant lifestyle across the study. Differences in bone characteristics, lab measures and jump heights will be analysed between and within participants. The present study aims to use varied drop jump heights to identify an osteogenic dose response effect. Drop jumps have been previously used to expose osteogenic effects in research due to the load produced at impact. Is it possible to identify an optimum height for bone response during impact? If so do we then find anything above this height actually has negative or no effect on a group of individuals?