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Data Volume and the Need for Clinical Decision Support in Glaucoma Care
Ashley Polski1, Ben J Brintz2, Rachel Hess3
1Department of Ophthalmology, Moran Eye Center, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah.
Ophthalmology Science
|July 1, 2026
Summary
Glaucoma care generates substantial clinical data, with long-term patients accumulating extensive records. This highlights the need for advanced clinical decision support systems to manage information overload in glaucoma management.
Area of Science:
- Ophthalmology
- Health Informatics
- Data Science
Background:
- Glaucoma management relies on integrating longitudinal clinical data for treatment decisions.
- Information overload is a growing concern in medicine, yet the specific data volume in glaucoma care is not well understood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To quantify the cumulative volume of glaucoma-relevant clinical data within the Sight Outcomes Research Collaborative (SOURCE) database.
Main Methods:
- A retrospective, multicenter cross-sectional study analyzed patients with glaucoma in the SOURCE database.
- Data points including intraocular pressure (IOP) measurements, RNFL OCT scans, and visual field (VF) tests were quantified per patient.
- Analyses were stratified by years of database enrollment and provider type.
Main Results:
- The study included 60,624 glaucoma patients, with a median enrollment of 2641 days.
- Patients followed for ≥9 years had a median of 40 IOP measurements and saw a median of 8 unique eye care providers.
- By 2021, 98.1% of patients had over 7 glaucoma-relevant clinical data points.
Conclusions:
- The SOURCE database demonstrates a significant volume of data in longitudinal glaucoma care.
- The increasing prevalence of glaucoma necessitates improved clinical decision support to efficiently manage large datasets.
- Understanding data volume is crucial for developing future clinical decision-support strategies in glaucoma.
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