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A qualitative investigation into patients’ views on visual field testing for glaucoma monitoring

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the views and experiences of patients regarding their glaucoma follow-up, particularly towards the type and frequency of visual field (VF) testing. DESIGN: A qualitative investigation using focus groups. The group discussion used broad open questions around the topics in a...

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Autores principales: Glen, Fiona C, Baker, Helen, Crabb, David P
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: BMJ Publishing Group 2014
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3902333/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24413347
http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2013-003996
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author Glen, Fiona C
Baker, Helen
Crabb, David P
author_facet Glen, Fiona C
Baker, Helen
Crabb, David P
author_sort Glen, Fiona C
collection PubMed
description OBJECTIVES: To investigate the views and experiences of patients regarding their glaucoma follow-up, particularly towards the type and frequency of visual field (VF) testing. DESIGN: A qualitative investigation using focus groups. The group discussion used broad open questions around the topics in a prompt guide relating to experiences of glaucoma follow-up, and in particular, VF monitoring. All the groups were taped, transcribed and coded using manual and computer-aided methods. SETTING: Three National Health Service (NHS) hospitals in England; two focus groups took place at each hospital. PARTICIPANTS: 28 patients (mean (SD) age: 74 (9) years; 54% women) diagnosed with glaucoma for at least 2 years. Each focus group consisted of 3–6 patients. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOMES: (1) Attitudes and experiences of patients with glaucoma regarding VF testing. (2) Patients’ opinions about successful follow-up in glaucoma. RESULTS: These patients did not enjoy the VF test but they recognised the importance of regular monitoring for preserving their vision. These patients would agree to more frequent VF testing on their clinician's recommendation. A number of themes recurred throughout the focus groups representing perceived barriers to follow-up care. The testing environment, waiting times, efficiency of appointment booking and travel to the clinic were all perceived to influence the general clinical experience and the quality of assessment data. Patients were also concerned about aspects of patient–doctor communication, and often received little to no feedback about their results. CONCLUSIONS: Patients trust the clinician to make the best decisions for their glaucoma follow-up. However, patients highlighted a number of issues that could compromise the effectiveness of VF testing. Addressing patient-perceived barriers could be an important step for devising optimal strategies for follow-up care.
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spelling pubmed-39023332014-01-27 A qualitative investigation into patients’ views on visual field testing for glaucoma monitoring Glen, Fiona C Baker, Helen Crabb, David P BMJ Open Ophthalmology OBJECTIVES: To investigate the views and experiences of patients regarding their glaucoma follow-up, particularly towards the type and frequency of visual field (VF) testing. DESIGN: A qualitative investigation using focus groups. The group discussion used broad open questions around the topics in a prompt guide relating to experiences of glaucoma follow-up, and in particular, VF monitoring. All the groups were taped, transcribed and coded using manual and computer-aided methods. SETTING: Three National Health Service (NHS) hospitals in England; two focus groups took place at each hospital. PARTICIPANTS: 28 patients (mean (SD) age: 74 (9) years; 54% women) diagnosed with glaucoma for at least 2 years. Each focus group consisted of 3–6 patients. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOMES: (1) Attitudes and experiences of patients with glaucoma regarding VF testing. (2) Patients’ opinions about successful follow-up in glaucoma. RESULTS: These patients did not enjoy the VF test but they recognised the importance of regular monitoring for preserving their vision. These patients would agree to more frequent VF testing on their clinician's recommendation. A number of themes recurred throughout the focus groups representing perceived barriers to follow-up care. The testing environment, waiting times, efficiency of appointment booking and travel to the clinic were all perceived to influence the general clinical experience and the quality of assessment data. Patients were also concerned about aspects of patient–doctor communication, and often received little to no feedback about their results. CONCLUSIONS: Patients trust the clinician to make the best decisions for their glaucoma follow-up. However, patients highlighted a number of issues that could compromise the effectiveness of VF testing. Addressing patient-perceived barriers could be an important step for devising optimal strategies for follow-up care. BMJ Publishing Group 2014-01-10 /pmc/articles/PMC3902333/ /pubmed/24413347 http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2013-003996 Text en Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions This is an Open Access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 3.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/
spellingShingle Ophthalmology
Glen, Fiona C
Baker, Helen
Crabb, David P
A qualitative investigation into patients’ views on visual field testing for glaucoma monitoring
title A qualitative investigation into patients’ views on visual field testing for glaucoma monitoring
title_full A qualitative investigation into patients’ views on visual field testing for glaucoma monitoring
title_fullStr A qualitative investigation into patients’ views on visual field testing for glaucoma monitoring
title_full_unstemmed A qualitative investigation into patients’ views on visual field testing for glaucoma monitoring
title_short A qualitative investigation into patients’ views on visual field testing for glaucoma monitoring
title_sort qualitative investigation into patients’ views on visual field testing for glaucoma monitoring
topic Ophthalmology
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3902333/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24413347
http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2013-003996
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