Version 1
: Received: 3 November 2023 / Approved: 6 November 2023 / Online: 7 November 2023 (08:22:26 CET)
How to cite:
Shellvarajah, M.; Barthelmes, D.; Nguyen, V.; Steinmann, S.; Gillies, M.C.; Sagkriotis, A. Adherence to Anti-VEGF Treatment in Patients with Neovascular Age-Related Macular Degeneration: A Real-World Study. Preprints2023, 2023110396. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202311.0396.v1
Shellvarajah, M.; Barthelmes, D.; Nguyen, V.; Steinmann, S.; Gillies, M.C.; Sagkriotis, A. Adherence to Anti-VEGF Treatment in Patients with Neovascular Age-Related Macular Degeneration: A Real-World Study. Preprints 2023, 2023110396. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202311.0396.v1
Shellvarajah, M.; Barthelmes, D.; Nguyen, V.; Steinmann, S.; Gillies, M.C.; Sagkriotis, A. Adherence to Anti-VEGF Treatment in Patients with Neovascular Age-Related Macular Degeneration: A Real-World Study. Preprints2023, 2023110396. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202311.0396.v1
APA Style
Shellvarajah, M., Barthelmes, D., Nguyen, V., Steinmann, S., Gillies, M.C., & Sagkriotis, A. (2023). Adherence to Anti-VEGF Treatment in Patients with Neovascular Age-Related Macular Degeneration: A Real-World Study. Preprints. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202311.0396.v1
Chicago/Turabian Style
Shellvarajah, M., Mark C. Gillies and Alexandros Sagkriotis. 2023 "Adherence to Anti-VEGF Treatment in Patients with Neovascular Age-Related Macular Degeneration: A Real-World Study" Preprints. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202311.0396.v1
Abstract
Background The evolution of treatment patterns in neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD) warrants investigation into the impact of patients’ adherence to anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) treatment on visual outcomes. This retrospective, non-randomized, non-comparative study aimed to investigate real-world adherence to anti-VEGF treatment.
Methods Patients (eyes) (≥ 50 years) with a diagnosis of nAMD who had a first injection of aflibercept or ranibizumab between January 2016 and December 2018 and 12 months of follow-up were included. Visual acuity (VA; logarithm of the minimum angle of resolution letters) and duration of injection intervals were recorded. Adherence was defined as < 20% of visits deviating from the schedule by ≥ 14 days.
Results Overall, 133 patient eyes were included: 129 adherent, 4 non-adherent. Mean (± standard deviation) baseline VA was 57.0 (± 23.6) and 53.8 (± 35.3) letters in adherent and non-adherent patient eyes, respectively. Mean change in VA by month 12 was higher in adherent (6.3 letters) than non-adherent patient eyes (−11 letters). In non-adherent patient eyes, no improvement in VA was recorded following completion of the loading period (month 3). Compared with the previous visit, adherent visits were associated with a mean increase in VA of 0.67 letters and non-adherent visits with a decrease of 2.30 letters.
Conclusions These results emphasize the importance of adherence to appropriate dosing regimens to optimize visual outcomes in patients with nAMD.
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
