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.
Surgical site infections (SSI) are not uncommon, especially in specific high-risk groups including spinal deformity and tumor (i.e. metastatic spine surgery) surgery. Well-recognized measures have been adopted to reduce surgical site infection, and the use of topical vancomycin powder has gained popularity in recent years. Given the lack of high-quality evidence for the use of topical vancomycin to reduce surgical site infections in open posterior spine surgery, which is currently the most common approach to spine surgery, it is crucial to study the use of vancomycin powder in reducing surgical site infections. This study is a prospective, single-blinded open label randomized controlled trial, with one arm of patients having local administration of 1g vancomycin powder which will be placed in the deep wound and subcutaneous layer prior to closure of surgical site by the orthopaedic surgeon, whereas the control arm will be without such application of vancomycin. Both arms of patients will still be undergoing the same operation procedures, as well as postoperative local wound drainage and wound care. This study will provide insights on the reduction rate in superficial and/or deep surgical site infection, and also assess the cost-effectiveness of using topical vancomycin in reducing surgical site infection between different disease groups, as well as any postoperative serum vancomycin toxicity and renal impairment. These proposed findings will provide valuable information for clinicians and institutions on future measures for surgical site infection of open posterior spine surgery.
Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is an endemic malignancy in Southern China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore and Malaysia. It is highly associated with Epstein-Barr virus (EBV). Radiation therapy alone is indicated for early stage I to II diseases while concurrent chemoradiation is required for more advanced stage III to IVB diseases. Intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) is the standard radiation technique for NPC, in virtue of its superior target coverage and dose sparing to adjacent critical organs-at-risks. Plasma EBV DNA and other novel plasma biomarkers have been extensively investigated in NPC. Previous studies have proven their predictive and prognostic values in NPC diagnosis, surveillance and survival outcomes. Investigators would like to investigate the roles of plasma biomarkers including plasma EBV DNA on treatment response evaluation, survival and prognosis on NPC, in the modern era of precision radiation therapy. This will help provide important information on refining on the current edition of AJCC/UICC staging classification.
Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of a peer-led pain management program (PAP) in improving pain self-efficacy, reduce pain, enhancing use of drugs and non-drug methods and quality of life among nursing home residents Hypothesis: PAP lead by peer volunteer (PV) is more effective than receive usual care and pain management pamphlet, in reducing pain intensity, enhancing pain self-efficacy, use of drugs and non-drug methods, health-related quality of life upon completion of the PAP (week 12) and over time (week 24). Design and subjects: Clustered randomized controlled trial with nursing homes as cluster; 288 residents will be recruited from 12 nursing homes. Each nursing home will be randomly allocated to experimental group (PV led PAP), control group (receive usual care and pain management pamphlet). Study instruments: Brief Pain Inventory, Pain Self-Efficacy Questionnaire, Use of drugs and non-drug methods log book, Short Form Health Survey-12 and process evaluation. Intervention: 12-week PAP (one 1-hour session per week). Outcome measures: Pain intensity, pain self-efficacy, use of non-drug pain relief methods, perceived health-related quality of life and experience in participating PAP, to be collected at baseline (T0), week 12 (T1), and week 24 (T2). Data analysis: Multilevel regression and/or Generalized Estimating Equation will be used for within-group and between- group comparisons. Expected results: Significant reduction in pain and enhancement in pain-related parameters, making peers support models in elderly care.
Colorectal cancer imposes threats to patients' well-being. Although most physical symptoms can be managed by medication, psychosocial stressors may complicate survival and hamper quality of life. Mindfulness and Qigong, two kinds of mind-body exercise rooted in Eastern health philosophy, has been found effective in symptoms management, improving mental health, and reducing stress. With these potential benefits, a randomized controlled trial (RCT) is planned to investigate the comparative effectiveness of mindfulness and Baduanjin intervention on the bio-psychosocial wellbeing of people with colorectal cancer. A 3-arm RCT with waitlist control design will be used in this study. One hundred eighty-nine participants will be randomized into (i) Mindfulness, (ii) Baduanjin, or (iii) waitlist control groups. Participants in both the Baduanjin and mindfulness groups will receive 8-weeks of specific intervention. All three groups will undergo four assessment phases: (i) at baseline, (ii) at 4-week, (iii) at 8-week (post-intervention), and (iv) 6-month post-intervention (maintenance). All participants will be assessed in terms of cancer-related symptoms and symptom distress, mental health status, quality of life, stress level based on physiological marker. Based on prior research studies, participants in both the mindfulness and Baduanjn intervention group are expected to have better symptoms management, lower stress level, better mental health, and higher level of quality of life than the control group. This study contributes to better understanding on the common and unique effectiveness of mindfulness and Baduanjin qigong, as such patients and qualified healthcare professionals can select or provide practices which will produce maximum benefits, satisfaction, adherence, and sustainability.
Respiratory virus infections are one of the major causes of hospitalizations, and outbreaks of respiratory virus infection have led to severe economic loss. In addition to pulmonary complications, respiratory viruses can also lead to non-pulmonary complications. However, many previous studies on the complications of respiratory viruses are retrospective in nature, and therefore many patients with respiratory virus infection may not be tested. Furthermore, these studies did not take into account that respiratory viruses can be found in some asymptomatic individuals. The aim of this study is to capture the burden of respiratory viruses in patients with acute pulmonary and extrapulmonary complications. We will recruit patients admitted to our hospital with acute coronary syndrome, stroke and exacerbation of underlying lung diseases. We will collect saliva from these patients and test for respiratory viruses. As controls, we will recruit asymptomatic patients at the out-patient clinic for follow up of chronic heart, lung or neurological diseases. We anticipate that this study will greatly enhance our understanding of the epidemiology of respiratory viruses in acutely hospitalized patients. Our findings will be important for clinicians, public health practitioners and scientists.
The study aims to examine the effect of single-task, dual-task and analogy training during gait rehabilitation on conscious motor processing propensity, balance, walking ability and fear of falling by older adults at risk of falling in Hong Kong. One-hundred and five healthy older adults will be recruited from elderly community centres in Hong Kong by convenience sampling. They will be randomly assigned into 3 groups (i.e., single-task walking group (active control group), dual-task walking group and analogy walking group). Participants in different groups will have training sessions (about 45 minutes each) three times per week for 4 weeks in a group of 5 participants. A total of 12 sessions will be completed by each participant. All training sessions will be conducted by experienced Hong Kong registered Physiotherapists. In each training session, all groups will have warm-up (5 minutes), balance training (5 minutes), body transport training (5 minutes), body transport with hand manipulation training (5 minutes), walking training with various difficulties in a 10 meters walkway with different instructions in different walking groups (20 minutes) and cool down (5 minutes). Participants in the different groups will receive different instructions during walking training. Well- developed single-task (explicit), dual-task and analogy instructions will be utilized in the single-task walking group, dual-task walking group and analogy walking group, respectively. Each participant will undergo assessment sessions (total 3 assessment sessions) before training at baseline (T0), just after completion of all training sessions (T1) and 6 months after completion of all training sessions (T2). In the baseline assessment, a structural questionnaire will be used to ask for demographics, detailed history of fall incident, detailed medical history, social history and social-economic status of the participants. A battery of assessments will be done to assess physical and cognitive abilities of the participants in all assessment sessions. Single-task walking ability, dual-task walking ability, functional gait and balance assessment, cognitive function, fearing of falling and propensity for conscious motor processing. All participants will also be asked to record their number of falls prospectively at the time between T1 (completion of all training sessions) and T2 (6 months after completion of all training sessions) using a calendar. The number of falls within the 6-month follow- up period will then be collected.
This study will seek to enroll immunocompromised patients with Lower Tract parainfluenza infection. It also contains a sub-study to enroll patients with severe COVID-19.
The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust has supported CUHK to launch a three-year project 'CUHK Jockey Club HOPE4Care Programme' to implement four evidence-based advanced rehabilitation technologies in 40 local elderly day care centres and rehabilitation centres, to benefit the community. The Exoskeleton Ankle Robot is a robot-assisted Ankle-Foot-Orthosis to facilitate gait training of person after stroke with drop foot.
This study aims to assess the effect of personalized support using instant messaging application on smoking cessation in smokers proactively recruited from smoking hotspots in Hong Kong.
Many patients with incurable cancer will receive palliative oncological treatment before their death, and radiotherapy (RT) is an important element of this. The aim of palliative RT is to alleviate symptoms and improve quality of life. An accurate and practical survival prediction model for metastatic cancer patient receiving palliative RT can assist the decision making (ranging from best supportive treatment alone for expected short survival, to dose escalation for potential better disease control). The available survival prediction models (such Survival Prediction Score using Number of Risk Factors by Chow et al and TEACHH model) have been developed in the Western world. We therefore perform a prospective observational study 1) to assess the overall survival of patients evaluated for palliative RT at a tertiary hospital in Hong Kong, and 2) to validate the prognostic score systems in our population.