Optometric Versus Ophthalmic Follow up of Cataract Surgery Patients in Northern Ireland: A Mixed Methods Study
Trial Snapshot
- Phase
- Not Applicable
- Status
- Withdrawn
- Sponsor
- Queen's University, Belfast
- Primary Endpoint
- Patient Satisfaction following different follow up to cataract surgery (Opthalmic led versus optometric follow up)
Study Overview
Brief Summary
This study will investigate the effectiveness of an optometric follow up of cataract surgery versus an ophthalmic surgeon follow up. It will investigate patient satisfaction,safety and cost.
Detailed Description
The study will be a mixed-methods study, including a randomized controlled trial in which participants are randomized after cataract surgery to follow up to be consultant led follow up or conducted by a trained optometrist 4-6 weeks following surgery. All participants will then return 6 months after surgery for an additional follow-up visit with an ophthalmologist other than the operating surgeon with patient healthcare satisfaction (main outcome), cost-effectiveness and safety outcomes being measured. A subset of patients and local clinicians will also take part in a one-time, individual, semi-structured interview.
This research will test an alternative model of aftercare for cataract surgeries, which may reduce patient waiting time and inconvenience. In turn, this could help improve patient satisfaction and reduce costs for both patients and the National Health Service (NHS).
Participants will be recruited by operating surgeons. The research will take place in the hospital/clinic/optometrists' offices.
Study Design
- Study Type
- Interventional
- Allocation
- Randomized
- Intervention Model
- Parallel
- Primary Purpose
- Health Services Research
- Masking
- Single (Outcomes Assessor)
Masking Description
Outcome assessor will not know the study group assignment of participants.
Eligibility Criteria
- Ages
- 50 Years to — (Adult, Older Adult)
- Sex
- All
- Accepts Healthy Volunteers
- No
Inclusion Criteria
- •Patients undergoing cataract surgery in 1st or 2nd eye for age-related cataract, in the Belfast Trust and Southern Trust
- •Willing to participate and give informed consent.
Exclusion Criteria
- •Patients judged by operative surgeon to be of high risk of loss of visual acuity in the operative eye (e.g. end stage glaucoma etc.). Note that patients with ocular comorbidity and previous surgery will not be routinely excluded, nor will monocular patients.
- •Patients that were not referred by an optometrist.
Outcomes
Primary Outcomes
Patient Satisfaction following different follow up to cataract surgery (Opthalmic led versus optometric follow up)
Time Frame: At 6 months
Patient satisfaction will be measured using the patient satisfaction questionnaire (PSQ)-18 at 6 months after surgery The scale include values for general satisfaction, technical quality, interpersonal manner, communication, financial aspects, time spent with doctor and accessibility and convenience. Each question is scored between 1 - 5. As some questions have reverse scoring (higher values indicate dissatisfaction) scores are reversed so a 5 will show highest satisfaction and 1 show lowest satisfaction. Each item within the subscales will be averaged and results will be given for each of the 7 subscales
Secondary Outcomes
- Cost(At 6 months)
- Visual Acuity(6 months)
- Post operative complications(6 months)
- Intraocular pressure (IOP) rise(6 months)
- Patient safety(At 6 months)
Investigators
Nathan Congdon
Chief Investigator
Queen's University, Belfast