Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39542710›Full record

ArticleThe British journal of ophthalmology2025

Outlier ophthalmologists in the treatment of neovascular age-related macular degeneration with intravitreal therapy.

Yohei Hashimoto, Adrian Robert Hunt, Jane M Wells, Gayatri Banerjee, Ross Ferrier, Richard Barry, Andrew Field, Justin Game, Claire Yvonne Hooper, Daniel Barthelmes and 1 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in The British journal of ophthalmology, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

11 authors.

Yohei HashimotoThe University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia yohei.hashimoto@sydney.edu.au.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7944-6923
Adrian Robert HuntOphthalmology, The University of Sydney Save Sight Institute, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6261-4679
Jane M WellsOphthalmology Unit, Canberra Hospital and Health Services, Garran, Australian Capital Territory, Australia.
Gayatri BanerjeeNepean Valley Eye Surgeons, Penrith, New South Wales, Australia.
Ross FerrierCoastwide Eye Surgery, Erina, New South Wales, Australia.
Richard BarryBlink Eye Clinic, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
Andrew FieldCairns Eye Surgery, Edge Hill, Queensland, Australia.
Justin GamePort Macquarie Eye Centre, Port Macquarie, New South Wales, Australia.
Claire Yvonne HooperNorthern Beaches Retina, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
Daniel BarthelmesUniversitätsSpital Zürich Augenklinik und Poliklinik, Zurich, Switzerland.
Mark C GilliesSave Sight Institute, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundTo compare individual ophthalmologists grouped as outliers or non-outliers based on the mean 12-month visual acuity (VA) outcomes for their patients with neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD).

methodsThis prospectively designed database study included treatment-naïve eyes with nAMD starting vascular endothelial growth factor inhibitors between July 2018 and April 2023 in Australia. Ophthalmologists were classified into high outliers, non-outliers and low outliers with a funnel plot of the adjusted mean 12-month VA change. The number of injections, last injection interval and proportion of visits where choroidal neovascularisation was active were compared between the groups.

results38 ophthalmologists who treated a total of 1266 eyes (male, 35%; mean age, 81 years old) were classified into 1 high outlier, 34 non-outliers and 3 low outliers (mean VA change, 7.5, 5.1 and 2.5 letters, respectively). The high outlier gave significantly more injections than the non-outliers (mean, 8.6 vs 7.7; p<0.001), while the low outliers administered significantly fewer injections than the non-outliers (mean, 7.1 vs 7.7; p=0.009). The last injection interval was shortest in the high outlier's eyes (9.4 weeks), followed by non-outliers' (10.8 weeks; p=0.04 (vs high outlier's)) and low outliers' (11.8 weeks; p=0.22 (vs non-outliers')). The low outliers' patients had more visits with intraretinal fluid (59%) than non-outliers' (29%; p<0.001) and high outlier's patients (31%; p<0.001).

conclusionThe low outliers' eyes had fewer injections, a longer treatment interval and more visits with intraretinal fluid. Building a system through which low outliers are anonymously notified of their performance would help improve general quality of care.

Indexed as

Angiogenesis InhibitorsOphthalmologistsRanibizumabVisual AcuityWet Macular DegenerationAgedAged, 80 and overBevacizumabChoroidal NeovascularizationDatabases, FactualFemaleFollow-Up StudiesHumansIntravitreal InjectionsMaleProspective StudiesAngiogenesis InhibitorsBevacizumabRanibizumabVascular Endothelial Growth Factor AAge-Related Macular DegenerationEpidemiology

Identifiers

PMID39542710
PMCPMC12171510

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.