Patient opinion on the monitoring of their wet age‐related macular degeneration during coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic and on the importance of telemedicine

Abstract

AbstractPurposeTo present the patients’ view on the monitoring of their wet Age‐related Macular Degeneration (wet AMD) during Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19), and the impact that telemedicine could have on it.MethodsWet AMD patients of Swiss Visio Montchoisi and RétinElysée (Lausanne, Switzerland), who had intravitreal anti‐Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (anti‐VEGF) injections before and after the first period of the Swiss confinement due to COVID‐19, completed two questionnaires. The first evaluated their view on their adherence to their scheduled injections during the confinement, and on the future use of telemedicine. The second, adapted from National Eye Institute Visual Function Questionnaire‐25, evaluated their opinion on their visual function during the confinement.ResultsFrom a total of 130 patients, 8.5% responded they did not respect their assigned injection interval during the confinement (group 1), while 91.5% responded they did (group 2). The majority of group 1 (37.5%) responded they did not attend their scheduled visit to avoid using public transportation. The majority of group 2 (78.7%) considered the continuation of their treatment more important than the risk of contracting COVID‐19. Before the lockdown, patients of group 2 had more need for help from others than the patients of group 1 (p = 0.02). In a future lockdown, 36.3% of group 1 and 8.7% of group 2 would prefer remote monitoring of their wet AMD via telemedicine (p = 0.02), 54.5% and 86.9% would prefer to visit the clinic (p = 0.02), while 9% and 4.3% would avoid the visit, respectively. 70% of group 1 and 33.6% of group 2 would rather use the telemedicine application in their home than visit a telemedicine center (p = 0.04).ConclusionsDespite our availability to provide continuous intravitreal anti‐VEGF injections during the COVID‐19 confinement, many wet AMD patients did not receive their scheduled treatment. In similar future circumstances, most patients would prefer to visit the clinic. The patients of group 1 would prefer remote monitoring of their AMD via telemedicine at a higher rate than the patients of group 2.Bibliography Visual Function Questionnaire 25. https://www.nei.nih.gov/learn‐about‐eye‐health/resources‐for‐health‐educators/outreach‐materials/visual‐function‐questionnaire‐25