Glaucoma Screening to Enhance At-Risk Californians' Health (G-SEARCH)

April 13, 2026 updated by: University of California, San Francisco

Novel Telehealth Technologies to Detect and Manage Glaucoma and Vision-threatening Eye Diseases in High-risk Populations

The vast majority of glaucoma cases in the United States go undetected and untreated until the late stages of the disease. Open-angle glaucoma is a progressive condition that is asymptomatic in its early to moderate stages and may be amenable to screening through telemedicine-based approaches. This study is a randomized trial to evaluate whether glaucoma screening with established tests (e.g., optical coherence tomography, fundus photography, and tonometry) is more effective for detecting undiagnosed glaucoma cases compared to education alone or delayed intervention.

Study Overview

Status

Recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Specific Aim 1: To determine the effectiveness of a telemedicine-based glaucoma screening program for detecting glaucoma. The investigators hypothesize that a mobile screening intervention incorporating optical coherence tomography (OCT), fundus photography, and tonometry will result in a greater number of new glaucoma diagnoses compared to education alone or delayed treatment.

Specific Aim 2: To determine whether a telemedicine-based glaucoma screening program provides benefits beyond glaucoma detection. The investigators hypothesize that (A) individuals randomized to the screening intervention will have higher rates of cataract surgery and distance vision correction one year after screening, and (B) those in the screening intervention will report higher vision-related quality of life one year after screening.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

2000

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Contact Backup

Study Locations

  • United States
    • California
      • Oakland, California, United States, 94607
        • Recruiting
        • Baywell Health
        • Contact:
      • San Francisco, California, United States, 94158
        • Not yet recruiting
        • University of California, San Francisco

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Black people aged 50 years or older
  • Hispanic people aged 65 years or older
  • People with diabetes aged 50 years or older
  • Must have been seen at the Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) within the past month

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Patients without a valid phone number or mailing address
  • Patients who have had an optometry appointment within the past year

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Screening
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Single

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Screening
Other: Glaucoma screening with optical coherence tomography (OCT), color fundus photography, and tonometry
Participants will be called and offered a screening appointment. At the appointment, visual acuity, OCT, color fundus photography, tonometry, and visual field testing will be performed. The images will be assessed for abnormalities. Participants meeting referral criteria will be referred for a comprehensive eye examination with an eye care provider.
Active Comparator: Education
Other: Educational Brochure
A brochure about glaucoma screening will be mailed to participants. The brochure will include contact information of a staff member who can schedule an appointment for a comprehensive eye examination.
No Intervention: Delayed Education
The same as the Educational Brochure arm, but delivered at the conclusion of the study.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
Glaucoma Diagnosis or Glaucoma Suspect Requiring Treatment
Time Frame: 3 months from randomization
3 months from randomization

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Cataract surgery
Time Frame: 12 months
Self-reported cataract surgery
12 months
Eyeglasses
Time Frame: 12 months
Self-reported purchase of new distance eyeglasses
12 months
Quality of Life survey
Time Frame: 12 months
Self-reported quality of life on VisQol instrument
12 months

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

University of California, San Francisco

Collaborators

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Jeremy D Keenan, MD, MPH, University of California, San Francisco
  • Principal Investigator: Yvonne Ou, MD, University of California, San Francisco

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

February 10, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

March 1, 2029

Study Completion (Estimated)

September 1, 2029

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

February 25, 2025

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

February 25, 2025

First Posted (Actual)

March 3, 2025

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

April 15, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 13, 2026

Last Verified

April 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 24-43132
  • U01DP006820 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

YES

IPD Plan Description

treatment arm, age, gender, results of diagnostic tests, 3-month and 12-month questionnaires

IPD Sharing Time Frame

After publication of the primary papers.

IPD Sharing Access Criteria

Researchers interested in accessing imaging data from this project will submit requests to the investigators following instructions available at the repository. The study's co-PIs will approve requests with clear research questions and processes in place to ensure secure storage of images.

IPD Sharing Supporting Information Type

  • STUDY_PROTOCOL
  • SAP

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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