Trial reportBMC health services research2023
Cost consequences of task-shifting intravitreal injections from physicians to nurses in a tertiary hospital in Norway.
Trial report in BMC health services research, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT02359149 (Intravitreal Injections by Nurses or Physicians), which is not on this map. Cited by 5 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Intravitreal Injections by Nurses or Physicians: a Randomized Controlled Trial Comparing Efficacy, Patient Satisfaction and Health Economy
Who cites it
5 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 5 citations in OpenAlex.
- Non-physician delivered intravitreal injection service: A systematic review of safety, implementation, training and patient experience.Acta ophthalmologica · 2026Pooled it
- Global estimates on the number of people blind or visually impaired by age-related macular degeneration: a meta-analysis from 2000 to 2020.Eye (London, England) · 2024Pooled it
- Comparison of Clinician Review Time and Confidence with Optical Coherence Tomography Digital versus Print-Based Workflows: A Pilot Observer Study.Clinical ophthalmology (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2026Article
- It's not the task, it's the shifting exploring physicians' and leaders' perspectives on task shifting in emergency departments in Norway.BMC nursing · 2024Article
- Through the Eyes of Patients: Understanding Treatment Burden of Intravitreal Anti-VEGF Injections for nAMD Patients in Norway.Clinical ophthalmology (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundAnti-vascular endothelial growth factor is a medicine administered intravitreally by an injection to maintain visual acuity in patients with a variety of retinal diseases. The demand for this treatment has grown considerably in the westernized world the last two decades and will continue to increase due to an aging population. Because of the high volume, injections seize enormous resources and represent high costs for both hospitals and society. Task-shifting of injections from physicians to nurses may be a means to reduce such costs, however the magnitude of possible savings has been poorly investigated. To this end we investigated changes in the hospital costs per injection, six-year cost projections of physician- versus nurse-administered injections for a Norwegian tertiary hospital and we compared the societal costs per patient per year.
methodsPatients (n = 318) were randomized to either physician- or nurse administered injections, and data were prospectively collected. Hospital costs per injection were calculated as the sum of training costs, personnel time and running expenses. The number of injections for the years 2014 - 21 from a Norwegian tertiary hospital was combined with age group specific injection prevalence and population projections to calculate cost projections for 2022 - 27. Societal costs per patient were calculated as the sum of hospital costs, transport costs for patients, caregivers' use of time, costs of ophthalmology consultations and community-based homecare.
resultsThe hospital costs per injection were 5.5 € higher for physicians compared to nurses (281.6 € versus 276.1 €). Cost projections estimated an annual hospital saving of task-shifting of 48 921 € for 2022 - 27. Societal costs per patient did not differ significantly between the two groups (mean 4988 € vs 5418 €, p = 0.398).
conclusionTask-shifting of injections from physicians to nurses can reduce hospital costs and increase the flexibility of physician resources. The annual savings are modest, but increased demand for injections might increase future cost savings. To achieve future savings for society, organizing ophthalmology consultations and injections on the same day to reduce the number of visits might be a solution.
trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov NCT02359149 (09/02/2015).
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.