Outcome Sciences to Study Effectiveness of Glaucoma Treatments

The U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality has selected Outcome Sciences Inc. in Cambridge, Massachusetts, to conduct a study to compare the effectiveness of medications versus surgery for the treatment of open-angle glaucoma. The study will enroll 2,600 patients from 30 sites across the United States, which aims to provide new scientific information about the effects of different treatment strategies for individuals who have glaucoma.

Outcome will be responsible for the day-to-day operations of the study, the design of the protocol and case report forms, building the study database, handling data collection, data management and database quality assurance. Richard Gliklich, MD, president and CEO of Outcome, will serve as the study’s principal investigator.

The goal of the study is to provide new scientific information about the effects of different treatment approaches in individuals who have open-angle glaucoma, which was among the 100 topics identified in the 2009 Institute of Medicine (IOM) report on comparative effectiveness research priorities. Open-angle glaucoma is a disease that can damage the eye’s optic nerve and result in vision loss and blindness, and is believed to account for some 90 percent of all glaucoma cases in the United States, the incidence of which is thought to increase with age.

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