Patients with AMD less likely to be lost to follow-up vs. total patients during pandemic
NEW YORK — Patients with established intravitreal injection treatment for age-related macular degeneration were 2.35 times less likely to be lost to follow-up during the pandemic compared with the total ophthalmology patient population.
In a poster presented at the American Society of Retina Specialists annual meeting, Leonard Ginsburg, MD, and colleagues presented the results of a retrospective analysis conducted at seven nonacademic practices (six multispecialty and one retina only) in six U.S. states. In the year preceding the pandemic, 92,359 patients were seen, 6,801 were diagnosed with neovascular AMD, and 3,397 were treated with at least one intravitreal injection. Dynamic Health Records software was used to determine which patients never fulfilled another appointment during the 22 months following the outbreak of the pandemic in March 2020.
The average percentage of total patients lost to follow-up across the seven practices was 25.6%, ranging between 18% and 31%. In comparison, the lost to follow-up rate of patients with neovascular AMD who received at least one injection was lower at an average of 10.9%, ranging between 8% and 16%.
The difference, the authors noted, may reflect the awareness by the patients and their families of the seriousness of the condition and the need for regular treatment to avoid irreversible vision loss. They speculated that it could also be due to the elderly and their family members having more time at home and “increased ability to find transportation to their appointment due to COVID-19.”
“Further studies may investigate why the [lost to follow-up] rate was different between practices,” they wrote.
Collapse
Ginsburg L, et al. Comparison of lost to follow-up rates between total ophthalmology patients vs patients receiving intravitreal injection treatment during COVID-19. Presented at: American Society of Retina Specialists annual meeting; July 13-16, 2022; New York.
Read more about