Overall satisfaction with intravitreal injections high despite treatment burden
Despite moderately to high treatment burden associated with repeated intravitreal injections (IVI) for exudative retinal diseases amongst patients with diabetic macular oedema and/or diabetic retinopathy (DMO/DR), overall satisfaction with treatment remains high, according to a study.
The validated Questionnaire to Assess Life Impact of Treatment by Intravitreal Injections survey was completed by 1416 patients, including those with age-related macular degeneration (n = 657), diabetic macular oedema/diabetic retinopathy (n = 360), retinal vein occlusion (n = 221), and other or uncertain diagnoses (n = 178).
Most patients (40%) who answered the questionnaire said they received IVI every 4-5 weeks. Treatment burden scores were higher in patients with DMO/DR than those with age-related macular degeneration or retinal venous occlusive (P = 0.028).
Half of the patients said they experienced side effects at more than half of their visits, however, the mean level of discomfort was low. Higher anxiety levels were reported in patients receiving <5 IVI compared with those who received >50 IVI.
Discomfort caused 42% of patients to restrict their usual activities after the procedure.
On a scale of 0 to 6, patients reported a high mean satisfaction rating of 5.46.
Reference
Wang R, McClard CK, Laswell S, et al. Quantifying burden of intravitreal injections: questionnaire assessment of life impact of treatment by intravitreal injections (QUALITII). BMJ Open Ophthalmol. 2022;7(1):e001188. doi: 10.1136/bmjophth-2022-001188. Epub 2022 Dec 19. PMID: 36794741.
