Abstract
ObjectivesThe aim of this study was to assess patients’ views and expectations with regard to neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD) and intravitreal anti-VEGF therapy (IVT).MethodsWe conducted a multicenter, non-interventional, prospective cohort study including nAMD patients treated with IVT in Germany. Patients with at least one IVT before study enrollment and aged ≥50 years were included. Three telephone interviews were conducted during a 12-month observational period. Here, patient’s beliefs/expectations with regard to the nAMD disease and the IVT treatment were discussed. Only patients who completed all three phone interviews were included in the analyses. We used a two-step cluster analysis to identify patient clusters regarding specific patient attitudes towards nAMD and its treatment.ResultsThree hundred and thirty-two patients completed all interviews (mean age of 76.4 ± 7.2 years, 59.0% women). Out of these, 57.8% acknowledged that they needed general assistance in daily life, while 77.4% stated being able to attend general medical appointments on their own. However, 64.7% needed a driver or an accompanying person to attend their IVT appointments.In addition, 3.9% of the patients were afraid of IVT side effects. Also, 87.3% and 43.1% of the patients could name their disease or the anti-VEGF drug administered, respectively. More than three-quarters of the patients (83.1%) were aware of possible consequences of nAMD by stating vision loss or blindness, but only 16.6% knew that nAMD is a chronic disease.Generally, patients were optimistic: 70.2%, 5.1% and 13.0% of them expected stable visual acuity (VA), a significant improvement or expected worsening of VA in the next year, respectively. Almost two thirds of patients who provided their therapy expectations (47.0%) anticipated fewer injections/discontinuation of IVT.We identified five patient clusters differing significantly from each other with regard to four variables: being afraid of IVT, nAMD disease awareness, optimism with regard to effectiveness of IVT, and nAMD disease and treatment knowledge.ConclusionsOnly a minority of patients is aware of the chronic nature of nAMD. To motivate patients to accept a life-long IVT treatment, physicians and caregivers must know that there exist different patient types with significant differences in communication needs.
Highlights
Recent evidence shows that anti-VEGF treatment of neovascular age-related macular degeneration with ranibizumab and bevacizumab is not as effective in the everyday clinical setting as in clinical trials [1,2,3,4,5,6,7]
To motivate patients to accept a life-long intravitreal anti-VEGF therapy (IVT) treatment, physicians and caregivers must know that there exist different patient types with significant differences in communication needs
The neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD) had been diagnosed a mean of 1.7 ± 1.9 years before study inclusion, and the first IVT had been given a mean of 1.4 ± 1.5 years before study inclusion
Summary
Recent evidence shows that anti-VEGF treatment of neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD) with ranibizumab and bevacizumab is not as effective in the everyday clinical setting as in clinical trials [1,2,3,4,5,6,7]. Long-term courses of injections and regular follow-ups are not easy to adhere to, especially for the elderly [11], and patientrelated causes such as non-adherence or immobility may contribute to the lower effectiveness of intravitreal treatment (IVT) in the everyday clinical setting, especially if the patients are to be followed up on a monthly basis. Treatments that are effective in clinical trials, but have low patient acceptance, are likely to be less effective in everyday clinical practice because of inadequate patient adherence [12, 13]. Acceptance by patients depends on several factors, such as patient treatment expectations and experiences, and effectiveness of communication between physicians and patients [14]
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