title: Efficient capture of high-quality data on outcomes of treatment for macular diseases: the fight retinal blindness! Project.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To describe the development of a web-based high-quality data collection tool to track the outcomes of treatment of macular disease in routine practice.
  
  
  METHODS
  Testing of a larger data collection tool established which fields a clinician would reliably fill out. The program, which was developed using freely available software, consists of modules interacting with a core system. The module for neovascular age-related macular degeneration is described here.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Data for initial visits can be entered within 30 seconds, 15 seconds for follow-up visits. Fifteen centers from Australia, New Zealand, and Switzerland are currently contributing data. Finalized data from 2,052 eyes of 1,693 participants dating from January 2006 were analyzed. Median (25th and 75th percentiles) visual acuity at the index visit was 55 (41, 68) logarithm of the minimum angle of resolution letters with the following lesion types: minimally classic 17.2%, predominantly classic 24.6%, occult 52.0%, idiopathic polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy 1.2%, and retinal angiomatous proliferation 3.2%.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This software tool will facilitate the collection of large amounts of data on the routine use of treatments of neovascular age-related macular degeneration. This will allow us to analyze important potentially modifiable variables, such as the effect of different treatment patterns on visual outcomes, and to evaluate new treatments as they are introduced into practice.
authors.affiliation: *Save Sight Institute, Sydney Medical School, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia; †Information and Communications Technology, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia; ‡Marsden Eye Specialists, Parramatta, New South Wales, Australia; §Lions Eye Institute, Center for Ophthalmology and Vision Science and ¶Department of Population Health, University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia; **Retina Associates, Chatswood, Sydney, Australia; ††Department of Ophthalmology, Centre for Eye Research Australia, University of Melbourne, Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital, Melbourne, Australia; ‡‡Department of Ophthalmology, Canberra Hospital, Canberra, Australia; §§Sydney School of Public Health, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia; and ¶¶Department of Ophthalmology, University Hospital Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Mark C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Gillies
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Walton
authors.forename: Julines
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Liong
authors.forename: Jennifer J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Arnold
authors.forename: Ian
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: McAllister
authors.forename: Nigel
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Morlet
authors.forename: Alex
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hunyor
authors.forename: Robyn
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Guymer
authors.forename: Jill
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Keeffe
authors.forename: Rohan
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Essex
authors.forename: Amparo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Herrera-Bond
authors.forename: Briony
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Glastonbury
authors.forename: Judy M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Simpson
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Barthelmes
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001766:Blindness / Q000517:prevention & control*; D003625:Data Collection / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007253:Information Centers / Q000458:organization & administration*; D008297:Male; D009862:Online Systems; D011785:Quality Assurance, Health Care; D012042:Registries; D012984:Software; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014792:Visual Acuity / Q000502:physiology; D057135:Wet Macular Degeneration / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000503:physiopathology