Clinical and social characteristics associated with reduced visual acuity at presentation in Australian patients with neovascular age-related macular degeneration: a prospective study from a long-term observational data set. The Fight Retinal Blindness! Project.
Clin Exp Ophthalmol
; 46(3): 266-274, 2018 04.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-28842956
ABSTRACT
IMPORTANCE Identifying variables that influence presenting visual acuity (VA) in patients with neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD) is important because it is a strong predictor of long-term outcomes. BACKGROUND:
To assess the clinical and social characteristics associated with low presenting VA in nAMD patients.DESIGN:
The present study is a cross-sectional analysis from a prospective, observational database.PARTICIPANTS:
We identified 3242 treatment-naïve patients from 54 Australian practices in the Fight Retinal Blindness! registry.METHODS:
Age, gender, ethnicity and VA were recorded at the baseline visit. Socio-economic status was determined using the Australian Bureau of Statistics socio-economic indexes for areas. MAIN OUTCOMEMEASURES:
Association between clinical and socio-economic characteristics with presenting VA was identified.RESULTS:
Poor VA (≤35 letters) in the presenting eye was associated with older age (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] 1.33 for patients aged ≥80 years vs. <80 years [95% confidence interval, CI 1.04, 1.71]), treatment at a public practice (AOR 1.91 for public vs. private practices [95% CI 1.46, 2.50]) and intermediate (36-69 letters) VA in the fellow eye (AOR 0.67 [95% CI 0.47, 0.95] and 0.64 [95% CI 0.48, 0.85] for poor [≤35 letters] and good [≥70 letters] VA vs. intermediate VA in the fellow eye). Gender, ethnicity and socio-economic status were not independently associated with VA at presentation. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE Poor presenting vision is detrimental to the long-term outcomes of nAMD. Poor presentation of nAMD in Australia may not be related to socio-economic circumstances, but due to systems of care. Further research is warranted to determine why patients at public practices present with worse vision compared with private practices in Australia.Palavras-chave
Texto completo:
1
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Acuidade Visual
/
Sistema de Registros
/
Cegueira
/
Degeneração Macular Exsudativa
País/Região como assunto:
Oceania
Idioma:
En
Ano de publicação:
2018
Tipo de documento:
Article
País de afiliação:
Austrália