An increase in new imaging technologies that serve as a replacement for traditional visual field testing and fundus photography to test for open-angle glaucoma might come at the expense of patient care, a study published in Ophthalmology suggests.
For their study, researchers looked at more than 500,000 patients with OAG or suspected glaucoma who were over the age of 40 and part of a national managed care network from 2001-2009. They found for patients with OAG, the odds of undergoing visual field testing decreased by 44 percent from 2001-2009 while the odds of undergoing other ocular imaging testing increased by 147 percent in the same period. Because other ocular imaging testing has not been shown to be as effective as visual field testing, researchers concluded that patient care could be at risk.
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For their study, researchers looked at more than 500,000 patients with OAG or suspected glaucoma who were over the age of 40 and part of a national managed care network from 2001-2009. They found for patients with OAG, the odds of undergoing visual field testing decreased by 44 percent from 2001-2009 while the odds of undergoing other ocular imaging testing increased by 147 percent in the same period. Because other ocular imaging testing has not been shown to be as effective as visual field testing, researchers concluded that patient care could be at risk.
Related Articles on Ophthalmology:
Preliminary Results Suggest Stem Cells Could Repair Macular Degeneration
SUNY Downstate Receives Research Grant to Study Blindness Prevention
FDA Approves Carl Zeiss Meditec's Cirrus HD-OCT for Dry AMD and Glaucoma