Data Use Application 008
Lead applicant organisation name
Name of the legal entity that signs the contract to access the data.
University of Birmingham (UoB). Applicant: Simon Baldwin, Research student PhD
Project title
The title of the project/research study request that the applicant is investigating through the use of health data.
Variability in Retinal Nerve Fibre Layer Thickness Measures from Optical Coherence Tomography Imaging: A Retrospective Longitudinal Study of Ocular Hypertension Patients Receiving Monitoring over Time at an NHS England Trust.
Lay summary
A concise and clear description of the project. This should outline the problem, objective and the expected outcomes in language that is understandable to the general public.
Glaucoma, a leading cause of blindness, damages the optic nerve without warning. Early ocular hypertension diagnosis (OH), a glaucoma precursor, is essential to reduce risk of sight loss.
Ophthalmic examinations are an important part of early stage OH diagnosis. Retinal nerve fibre layer thickness measures (RNFL) form part of the examination process. However, RNFL measures may be subject to variability.
This research uses real-world clinical data from INSIGHT of OH patients monitored in routine clinical care to determine the measurement variability in RNFL measures and contributing factors to reliability issues in optical coherence tomography (OCT) imaging.
Public benefit statement
A description in plain English of the anticipated outcomes, or impact of project on the general public.
Test reliability on patients receiving disease monitoring impacts clinicians’ ability to resolve uncertainties about health status and reduces ambiguity in clinical decision making leading to prompt and appropriate treatments or interventions, and ultimately improving health outcomes.
This research will inform existing ophthalmic examination strategies at ophthalmology clinics, by providing evidence on the reliability of RNFL measures and OCT imaging. Since disease monitoring is often expensive, our study also seeks to benefit the ‘public purse’ by providing evidence to inform the development and ongoing appraisal of cost-effective OH monitoring strategies.
Latest approval date
The last date the data access request for this project was approved by a data custodian.
26 June 2023
Dataset(s) name
The name of the dataset(s) being accessed.
Bespoke, University Hospitals Birmingham, ocular hypertension dataset
Access type
Determines whether the data will be accessed with an Trusted Research Environment (TRE) or via data release.
Data Licence Agreement. Data accessed within UHB Trust on premises digital enviornment
Data sensitivity level
The level of identifiability of the data being accessed, as defined by Understanding Patient Data.
Anonymised