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.
As the global prevalence of food allergy steadily increases, tree nut (TN) becomes one of the main triggers of food-allergic reactions and food anaphylaxis. Since there is no effective cure, TN-allergic patients and their families must continue to live with this chronic, disabling condition while avoiding allergens and responding to allergic reactions with emergency treatment. An emerging experimental treatment for food allergy is oral immunotherapy (OIT). Tree nut OIT appears promising in preliminary studies but there are concerns about the high risk of adverse reactions to TNs used in the treatment. The rate of remission with TN OIT is also lacking. Identification of OIT regimes with increased efficacy and safety is urgently needed. The investigators revealed that boiled cashews had lower allergenic potential but retained mast cell reactivity. The aim of this proposed study is to investigate the efficacy and safety of a novel treatment strategy for TN-allergic individuals, whereby the investigators hypothesized that consuming increasing quantities of boiled cashews can induce desensitization/ remission to roasted tree nuts in children with cashew allergies.
Constraint induced movement therapy (CIMT) is based on the theoretical basis that constraining the unaffected limb following injury of the brain such as stroke can help overcome learned non-use. It comprises of constraint of the unaffected limb, massed tasks practice with the affected limb and a behavioral contract known as the transfer package whereby use of the affected limb is extended to the real-world situations. home-based rehabilitation is likely to be cost-effective, and it may reduce cost for patients in terms of hospital charges and transport fares. However, one of the major problems with the existing home-based CIMT protocols is that, they used number of hours spent carrying out tasks practice as the measure of intensity of practice, and it has been argued that, such method is not clear and it does not reflect the correct intensity of practice.
To establish a central database on clinical parameters for patients who has morbid obesity, which aiming at 1. to compare the results of those with or without receiving invasive bariatric treatment in Prince of Wales Hospital ( Multidiciplinary Clinic of Metabolic & Bariatric Surgery) and CUHK Medical Centre (Weight Management & Metabolic Surgery Clinic). 2. To audit and compare outcome between PWH, CUHK Medical Centre, and with other bariatric surgery centers in Hong Kong (Hong Kong Bariatric & Metabolic Surgery Registry) 3. To compare outcome with the regional/international center databse for benchmarking performance of HK bariatric surgery
Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tear is common. It accounts for over 50% of all knee injuries. Anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR) with hamstring tendon (HT) autograft is the common graft choice for ACLR. However, the outcomes of donor site healing and recovery of muscle strength of HT are not satisfactory, resulting in hamstring muscle weakness and hamstring strength deficit during deep knee flexion, which may lead to hamstring strain after ACLR. Moreover, activation of the hamstring muscle is vital for maintaining dynamic knee joint stability and preventing excessive ACL shear forces. The presence of hamstring muscle deficits after surgery therefore affects the function of the reconstruction ACL. A previous study has reported that the hamstring muscle showed nearly 20% strength deficit at 4 months after ACLR with hamstring autograft Pulsed electromagnetic field (PEMF) treatment is a non-invasive therapy that has been shown to enhance muscle cell activity and accelerate tissue repair. In clinic, PEMF treatment has been reported to be safe. This study aims to conduct a double-blinded, placebo-controlled randomised clinical trial to investigate the effects of PEMF therapy for improving the tissue regeneration and strength of the HT donor site in ACLR patients with HT autograft.
The trial is designed to examine whether Yizhi Baduanjin could slow down and improve in memory, logical thinking and cerebral function in patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). 30 MCI patients will be recruited and randomly assigned to Yizhi Baduanjin intervention group control group for 6 months. The primary outcome is changes in Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) questionnaire; other outcome includes Cognitive Function Assessment questionnaire.
Obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) in children is a prevalent sleep disorder associated with a wide spectrum of morbidities, including neurobehavioural, cardiovascular, and metabolic complications. Positional OSA (POSA) is one of the distinct clinical phenotypes in which obstructive respiratory events occur predominantly while sleeping in the supine position. As the majority of the OSA events in POSA occur in the supine position, positional therapy has become a reasonable non-invasive treatment strategy. The primary objectives of our study are 1) To investigate the feasibility of positional therapy in children with positional OSA; 2) To investigate the efficacy of positional therapy in children with positional OSA. Hypothesis to be tested: 1) Positional therapy is feasible in children with positional OSA. 2) Positional therapy is efficacious in children with positional OSA by reducing the severity of the OSA as measured by the obstructive apnoea hypopnoea index. Design and subjects: A prospective case-control study. 20 children aged 6 to 17 years of age with positional OSA (POSA) will be invited to join the study. Primary outcome measures: Feasibility of the use of positional device therapy; the change in the OAHI between the baseline diagnostic PSG and the home sleep study using a positional device therapy. Statistical Analysis: Continuous data will be presented as mean and standard deviation or median with the interquartile range depending on its distribution, whereas categorical data will be shown as proportions. Changes in sleep study parameters between the baseline PSG and the home sleep study using the positional device will be compared using Wilcoxon signed rank tests. Within-subject differences in the secondary outcome parameters will be tested by paired t-tests, McNemar tests, and marginal homogeneity tests for continuous, dichotomous, and categorical data respectively. Expected results: Positional therapy is practicable and efficacious in children with positional OSA by reducing the severity of the OSA.
Objectives: Obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) exhibits variable susceptibility to end-organ morbidities. Previous studies suggest that physiological sequelae in individuals with OSA promote changes in microbiome, which also interact with metabolic and inflammatory mediators. Therefore, microbiome and metabolomic profiling could potentially reveal the pathological processes underlying OSA. The primary objectives of our study are 1)To investigate the differences in the composition of nasal and stool microbiome between children with OSA and non-OSA controls; 2)To investigate the differences in the urine metabolomic profiles between children with OSA and non-OSA controls. Hypothesis to be tested: The microbiome composition and urine metabolomic profiles are different between children with OSA and non-OSA controls. Changes in microbiome composition are associated with specific urine metabolomic and inflammatory profiles in children with OSA. Design and subjects: A prospective case-control study. Chinese children aged 6-11 years old with habitual snoring and polysomnography (PSG) confirmed OSA will be recruited as cases. Non-OSA healthy children will be recruited as controls. All subjects will undergo evaluation including questionnaires, anthropometric measurements, PSG, blood, urine, nasal and stool sampling. Primary outcome measures: Microbiome and metabolomic profiles in children with OSA compared to non-OSA controls. Analysis: Comparisons of the microbiome and metabolomic profiles between OSA children and controls. Correlations of microbiome and metabolomic profiles with inflammatory biomarkers and PSG measurements will be evaluated by regression analysis. Expected results: This study will provide novel data regarding microbiome and metabolomic profiles, and their relationship with inflammatory biomarkers in children with OSA.
Objectives: Variability of clinical phenotypes in childhood obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) has prompted research for biomarkers to identify patients at risk of developing OSA-related complications. Upper airway inflammation is documented in children with OSA. Whether it is related to end-organ morbidities and systemic inflammation is under-explored. The primary objectives of our study are 1)To evaluate inflammatory biomarkers with the use of nasal epithelial lining fluid (NELF) collected by nasal strips as a representation of upper airway inflammation in children with OSA compared to non-OSA controls; 2) To evaluate the associations between NELF biomarkers with ambulatory blood pressure (ABP) outcomes in children with OSA. Hypothesis to be tested: Inflammatory biomarkers in NELF in children with OSA are altered when compared with non-OSA controls and correlated with ABP outcomes. Design and subjects: A prospective case-control study. Non-obese Chinese children aged 6-11 years old with habitual snoring (≥3 nights per week) and polysomnography (PSG) confirmed OSA (OAHI of ≥1/hour) will be recruited as cases. Non-OSA children with OAHI < 1 event/h will be recruited as controls. All subjects will undergo evaluation including questionnaires, anthropometric measurements, PSG, 24-hour ABP measurement, blood and NELF sampling. Primary outcome measure: Profile of inflammatory biomarkers in the NELF. Analysis: Correlations between NELF inflammatory biomarkers with polysomnographic and ABP measurements will be evaluated by regression analysis. Expected results: This study will provide novel and important information regarding upper airway inflammatory biomarkers in children with OSA and their relationship with blood pressure outcomes.
The goal of this waitlist control study is to evaluate the benefits of online game pedagogy to evaluate the readiness of health care students for interprofessional learning in nursing students. Interprofessional (IP) collaboration is a core competence of health care education to enable effective teamwork and improve health outcomes. Taking into account the characteristics of our students and the pragmatic issues, v-Care (Virtual Care) is a novel strategy to deliver Interprofessional Education using gamification. Colleagues from nursing (SN), rehabilitation sciences (RS) and health technology and informatics (HTI) will collaborate in the design of v-Care, and implement and evaluate it effectiveness in nursing, physiotherapy and radiography related subjects. To evaluate the effectiveness of interprofessional learning of the health faculty students using a multi-player point-and-click on line motivational game. Theoretical Framework The v-Care design is based on the Self-Determination Theory (SDT) and Motivational Gamification. Outcomes: The primary outcome is to improve the readiness for interprofessional learning. A peer learning community will be established to improve the motivation to learn based on SDT: (1) autonomy, (2) competence and (3) relatedness.
To determine if a two-week ecological momentary intervention (two EMA + one EMI daily) as augmentation to treatment as usual would reduce depressive symptoms, rumination levels, and functioning in subjects with mild to moderate depression, as compared to active controls receiving three EMA prompts daily.