Planning and managing research into day surgery for cataract
Between 1995 and 1997, a randomized controlled study, funded by the
Department of Health, was carried out into the management of patients with
cataract attending a peripheral ophthalmic clinic and who had been assessed as
suitable for day-surgery. The research took place in a clinical setting and it was
accepted from the outset that, while such studies have the power to give
information about the real clinical world, this also means that the research is
potentially at the mercy of events within that world. The purpose of this paper
is to report how the study was set up and integrated into the clinic. First, a
literature review was undertaken in order to focus the aims of the study more
clearly. Second, drawing on principles of action research, clinical and research
staff worked together to implement the study. This strategy allowed a ¯exible
approach to the research which enabled problems to be handled as they arose.
Keywords: action research, cataract, day-surgery, ophthalmic out-patients,
randomized controlled trial