All Clinical Trials in Canada

Factors related to successful rehabilitation are often directly related to adherence; for instance, dosage, frequency, and intensity can burden the patient regarding time and motivational factors. Furthermore, surrounding salience, patients may lose interest or find an intervention boring after a few sessions. It is well documented that nonadherence not only impacts rehabilitation for the patient but can also further prolong treatment, and increase hospital and clinician costs, in addition to a higher prevalence of future comorbidities. Therefore, strategies that improve patient adherence can significantly help optimize patient care and treatment outcomes. One avenue to increase patient adherence is through the gamification of rehabilitation therapies using virtual reality (VR). Gamification of rehabilitation therapy can make mass practice required in rehabilitation therapies seemingly fun and more personally engaging for the patient. Additionally, the immersive experience achieved through VR can further promote salience and be customizable to individual patient requirements. As VR systems are now highly portable and relatively simple to utilize, they can provide an excellent opportunity to continue rehabilitation practice on the home front. Overall, the VR gamification of rehabilitation may increase adherence by shifting patients' perspectives of therapy as tedious, boring, or a hassle, to a fun and engaging game that ultimately helps their recovery processes. The GlenXRose VR-delivered speech-language therapies (Cognitive Projections Lab, University of Alberta) have been developed and piloted in collaboration with the Glenrose Rehabilitation Hospital with the overall goal of increasing patient adherence, treatment outcomes, and satisfaction with vocal therapy. The proposed studies are to investigate the feasibility of implementing this technology in routine clinical care (specific to voice disorders), obtaining clinician feedback, examining associated financial costs, and continuing to examine the effect of the GlenXRose VR speech-language therapies on patient adherence and clinical outcomes, compared to traditional clinical care. Read Less

Cancer and its treatments often result in severe toxicities and side effects that, over the course of treatment, results in weight loss and depletion of key nutrients. Loss of muscle mass and strength during cancer treatment is a critical problem because it negatively affects patient response and tolerance to therapy and post-treatment recovery. To restore the nutritional status, it is imperative to stimulate muscle protein anabolism. Eggs are high quality protein source, popular and well tolerated by cancer patients. Therefore, the objective of this study is to determine whether a nutritional intervention of ≥2 eggs can aid in restoring nutritional status and improving immune function and quality of life of cancer patients' post-treatment. It is an 8- week randomised clinical trial with parallel arm assignment. Half of the participants will receive the nutritional intervention (Early Intervention) and the other half will be on standard of care or usual diet for first 4 weeks. Starting from week 5, all participants will receive the nutrition intervention till week 8 (Delayed Intervention). Dietary intake (foods and nutrients), cumulative protein intake (g protein/kg body weight), immunological measures, physical performance and quality of life has been planned to be assessed over time and between groups to evaluate the feasibility of an egg intervention in meeting recommended protein intakes for patients with cancer. Read Less

The purpose of this study is to determine the feasibility and acceptability of a hybrid in-person and virtual individualized physiotherapy program using the Healthy Eating and Active Living (HEAL-ME) online platform for children diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. We would like to know if this type of hybrid program delivery model is feasible, and if children and their parents are willing and able to participate in the program. We will do this by recording how many, and what type of physiotherapy sessions (in-person or virtual) are completed, what resources offered on the platform are accessed, and how many children complete the assessments. Read Less

In patients with hemianopsia following stroke or brain injury, we will determine if stimulating the visual field with images from a PowerPoint slide set can increase the visual field. Read Less

The optimal treatment strategy with hyperbaric oxygen therapy has been the subject of some debate over the past 3 decades. Initial landmark studies showed a decrease in the incidence of DNS with a single treatment and also with three treatments over the course of 24 hours. These two strategies have continued to be used widely without further evidence comparing them in a direct fashion. Retrospective publications in the years since have been largely conflicting about the benefit of additional hyperbaric treatments. The investigators would seek to randomize patients with carbon monoxide poisoning to receive with 1 or 3 treatments with hyperbaric oxygen and measure their neurologic outcomes. Read Less

Coronary artery disease (CAD) is a leading cause of death. The gold-standard test used to diagnose CAD is invasive coronary angiography (ICA). However, nearly half the patients who receive ICA are found to have no disease or non-significant disease. This means that while they receive a diagnosis, they do not receive any therapeutic benefit. This is concerning because ICA is expensive and it carries a risk to patients. A non-invasive diagnostic test, cardiac computed tomographic angiography (CCTA), has been shown to be as effective as ICA at diagnosing CAD in the right patient population, while being less expensive and less risky for patients. An optimal solution would involve screening to identify which patients are good candidates for CCTA vs. which should receive ICA. This screening tool could be used in a triage pathway to ensure that every patient gets the test that is best for them. The investigators have used Artificial Intelligence (AI) to develop a model for determining which patients should receive ICA vs. which should receive CCTA. The investigators have also developed a triage pathway to direct patients to the most appropriate test. The investigators now plan to evaluate the AI tool combined with the triage pathway through a clinical trial at Hamilton Health Sciences and Niagara Health. This model of care will reduce risk to patients, reduce wait times for ICA and reduce costs to the health care system. Read Less

The goal of this study is to learn whether early referral to palliative care improves quality of life for patients with advanced sarcoma. Participants enrolled in this study will complete quality of life questionnaires before starting their treatment, and every 6 weeks for 24 weeks. Read Less

First, the investigators plan to use a retrospective analysis to determine the clinical landscape of neurofibromatosis (NF)1-associated malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumor (MPNST) and precursor lesions (e.g., atypical or nodular plexiform neurofibromas). A worldwide database will be established, collecting, in a standardized manner, histologic, immunohistochemical, molecular, radiographic, treatment, and related clinical data from centers worldwide with expertise in these NF1-related cancers. Although retrospective in nature, the resulting data from this registry may reveal previously unanticipated patterns, similar to the INFACT effort outcome. This registry would then allow the acquisition of data associated with MPNST biospecimens collected under associated banks (frozen or paraffin-embedded, germline (or normal tissue DNA) samples, and any previously somatic whole-exome or whole-genome sequencing data for aggregate analyses). Second, the investigators plan to co-register patients to institutional banks in order to prospectively collect MPNST samples for analysis. These patients will be consented in order to collect the above information and for banking of tumor tissue and future studies that include genomic characterization of the tumors. Read Less

A national data registry of patients receiving fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) or other gut-related-microbiota products designed to prospectively assess short and long-term safety and effectiveness Read Less

The purpose of this study is to determine whether outcomes for patients receiving intra-articular platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injections for knee osteoarthritis are influenced by observation of the preparatory steps to the procedure. The viewing of the steps involved in the administration of PRP may increase the effectiveness of the treatment in comparison to patients who have not observed the preparatory steps. Read Less

The goal of this clinical trial is to compare two types of skin preparation solutions (chlorhexidine gluconate-alcohol solution and povidone-iodine solution) that help eliminate harmful bacteria on the skin at the time of surgery for patients having revision arthroplasty surgery of the hip or knee. The main outcome of interest for the definitive study is the need for re-operation for a wound complication or an infection of the prosthetic joint within one year after surgery. For the pilot trial, our main interest is to determine feasibility of a definitive trial. Feasibility outcomes will include: ability to recruit patients, ability to randomize patients, ability to collect complete data, estimate the event rate of our primary outcome, ability to carry out data linkages and determine the accuracy of collected data. Participants will be contacted at two time points after surgery to complete a 5-minute survey: after 30 days, and after 1 year. Read Less

Many people develop joint pain, stiffness and swelling due to their cancer treatment that targets the immune system. The severity of symptoms ranges from mild to debilitating and sometimes requires delaying or stopping cancer treatment. The usual plan is to discontinue cancer treatment and give relatively high doses of a medication called prednisone (a steroid, which is an anti-inflammatory medication which may suppress the immune system), with a gradual lowering of the dose over several weeks. While this can be effective, prednisone can cause several side effects, and it is not known if this is the best or safest treatment. Hydroxychloroquine is a medication being studied on IMPACT 2.0 on participants who develop inflammatory joint pain while taking cancer treatments that affect their immune system. It is possible that the hydroxychloroquine treatment may not work well on some participants on IMPACT 2.0. Hydroxychloroquine is also given as standard of care to participants with this type of inflammatory joint pain. The goal of this study is to learn how well methotrexate is at treating inflammatory joint pain in participants from IMPACT 2.0 that don't do well on treatment with hydroxychloroquine and in patients given hydroxychloroquine as standard of care to treat this type of inflammatory joint pain caused by taking cancer treatments which target their immune system. Read Less