Purpose: To monitor the dissemination status of clinical practice guidelines (GL) for aniridia developed by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare's Intractable Diseases Research Group (Nishida Group), and identifies the aspects of the GL to be improved.
Subjects and methods: A questionnaire was sent to the representatives of training facilities cultivating board-certified ophthalmic specialists of the Japanese Ophthalmological Society from August to October 2022, and responses were collected via the internet or mail.
Results: Responses were obtained from 227 out of 965 facilities (response rate: 23.5%). The year of experience as an ophthalmologist who responded was 20 to 30 years in 37.9%. The proportion of ophthalmologists who responded that they had not treated any patient with aniridia per year was 55.5%, while 37.0% treated 1-4 cases. Additionally, 84.1% responded that they had not filled in forms of intractable diseases, while 11.5% had 1 to 4 cases. In terms of the GL, 67.1% knew them and 59.8% used them in clinical practice as a reference, while 76.8% followed them in clinical practice and 23.2% did not follow them in clinical practice. The proportion of ophthalmologists who responded that they did not follow the GL in their clinical practice due to patients' requests was 21.1%. The purpose of GL use was the standardization of treatment within institutions in 79.9%. Regarding the evaluation of the GL, 85.0% answered that the number of clinical questions (CQs) was appropriate, 75.9% responded that the CQs were clinical practice-oriented, 79.8% answered that the recommendations were easy to understand, 86.5% responded that the explanations were useful, 67.6% answered that they were based on the current situation in Japan, and 82.7% responded that the GL were helpful for standardization of clinical practice.
Conclusions: Although the response rate was somehow low, it was confirmed that the GL for aniridia were recognized to some extent, and two-thirds of the responding ophthalmologists recognized them. Based on the results of this questionnaire, we would like to conduct further public awareness activities and revision of the GL in the future.
Nippon Ganka Gakkai Zasshi (J Jpn Ophthalmol Soc) 128: 311-319, 2024.