MAGS study
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Management of Angle-closure Glaucoma Suspects: minimising the implementation gap between new guidance and clinical practice through education and technology (MAGS study)
IRAS ID
338160
Contact name
Patrick Gunn
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Manchetser University NHS Foundation Trust
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 6 months, 2 days
Research summary
Glaucoma is a common eye condition where the optic nerve becomes damaged. Glaucoma can be categorised into narrow angle glaucoma and open angle glaucoma. The Royal College of Ophthalmologists and College of Optometrists recently released new guidance on when to refer and treat patients at risk of narrow angle glaucoma The Management of Angle-Closure Glaucoma (published June 2022). The guidance recommends a higher threshold of risk for both referral and treatment than what has been used before. There is a known challenge in bridging the gap between published guidance and the reality of clinicians having the knowledge and skills to fully implement them. To maximise the benefit of this new guidance, this requires clinicians to have the knowledge and confidence to implement them in their clinical practice.
We aim to better understand how optometrists perceive the new glaucoma guidance, how confident they feel in managing patients within it, and any perceived barriers to the new clinical pathways from those involved in reviewing referrals. We aim to understand how primary angle closure suspect patients (PACS) feel about the new guidelines and how they impact the management of their eye condition. The new guidance benefits patients because low risk PACS will not be referred into a hospital, preventing unnecessary referral into secondary care and the associated anxieties and issues attending hospital review. The guidance could improve the quality of clinical information provided in referrals and enable those in secondary care to more easily prioritise and triage referrals. Both these factors should improve appropriate access to secondary care, ensuring the patients at highest risk are seen more quickly, reducing the risk of sight loss due to delays in accessing treatment. We hope the results of the project could produce national recommendations on the implementation of newly published clinical guidance using education and technology.
REC name
North East - Newcastle & North Tyneside 2 Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
24/NE/0154
Date of REC Opinion
3 Sep 2024
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion