Background/Aims Recent decades have seen significant advances in both structural and functional testing of retinal disease. However, the current clinical value of specific testing modalities, as well as future trends, need to be clearly identified in order to highlight areas for further development in routine care and clinical trials. Methods We designed a modified two-round Delphi study to obtain the opinion of a multidisciplinary group of 33 international experts involved in the field of retinal disease management/research to determine the level of agreement and consensus regarding the value and performance of specific structural and functional testing methods for retinal disease. On a Likert scale, a median of 1–2 indicated disagreement with the statement, and 5–6 indicated agreement with the statement. An IQR of ≤2 indicated consensus in the responses. Several questions also allowed comments on responses. Results There was overall agreement that structural testing currently predominates for detection and monitoring. There was moderate agreement that functional testing remains important and will continue to do so in the future because it provides complementary information. Certain respondents considered that properly designed and applied psychophysical tests are as reliable and repeatable as structural observations and that functional changes are the most important in the long run. Respondents considered future care and research to require a combination of structural and functional testing with strong consensus that the relative importance will depend on disease type and stage. Conclusion The study obtained important insights from a group of international experts regarding current and future needs in the management of retinal disease using a mix of quantitative and qualitative approaches. Responses provide a rich range of opinions that will be of interest to researchers seeking to design tests for future patient care and clinical trials. All data relevant to the study are included in the article or uploaded as supplementary information.

中文翻译：

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视网膜疾病管理中视觉评估的专家共识：CONVERGE 研究


背景/目标 近几十年来，视网膜疾病的结构和功能测试取得了重大进展。然而，需要明确确定特定测试方式的当前临床价值以及未来趋势，以便突出常规护理和临床试验进一步发展的领域。方法 我们设计了一项修改后的两轮德尔菲研究，以获得由 33 名参与视网膜疾病管理/研究领域的国际专家组成的多学科小组的意见，以确定关于特定结构和功能的价值和性能的一致和共识的程度。视网膜疾病的测试方法。在李克特量表中，中位数 1-2 表示不同意该陈述，5-6 表示同意该陈述。 IQR ≤2 表明答案达成共识。有几个问题还允许对答复发表评论。结果 普遍认为结构测试目前在检测和监测中占主导地位。人们普遍认为功能测试仍然很重要，并且在未来将继续如此，因为它提供了补充信息。某些受访者认为，正确设计和应用的心理物理测试与结构观察一样可靠且可重复，并且从长远来看，功能变化是最重要的。受访者认为未来的护理和研究需要结合结构和功能测试，并一致认为相对重要性将取决于疾病类型和阶段。 结论 该研究采用定量和定性相结合的方法，从一组国际专家那里获得了关于视网膜疾病管理当前和未来需求的重要见解。答复提供了丰富的意见，这些意见将引起寻求为未来患者护理和临床试验设计测试的研究人员的兴趣。与研究相关的所有数据都包含在文章中或作为补充信息上传。