The negative impact of COVID-19 pandemic on age-related macular degeneration patients treated with intravitreal bevacizumab injections.
Int Ophthalmol
; 42(11): 3387-3395, 2022 Nov.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-35604624
ABSTRACT
PURPOSE:
COVID-19 emerged in the end of 2019 and was declared a worldwide pandemic shortly after. Social distancing and lockdowns resulted in lower compliance in intravitreal injections and office visits. We aimed to assess clinical outcomes among patients who missed these visits compared to those who arrived as planned.METHODS:
Patients who missed or were late to office visits or intravitreal injections were defined as non-adherent and were compared to adherent patients. Our main outcomes were the need for subsequent injections, mean change in best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA), and central macular thickness (CMT).RESULTS:
This study included 77 patients (24 adherent and 53 non-adherent). The mean BCVA remained stable during the study period for the adherent group (p = 0.159) and worsened in the non-adherent group (p < 0.001). Changes in CMT and maximum thickness were not significant for either group. A higher proportion of patients in the non-adherent group needed subsequent intravitreal injections (49% vs 20%, p = 0.014).CONCLUSION:
The findings demonstrate the negative implications of the COVID-19 pandemic and the effect of deferring bevacizumab injections among individuals with age-related macular degeneration. This emphasizes the importance of a scheduled follow-up, also during a pandemic.Palavras-chave
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
COVID-19
/
Degeneração Macular
Tipo de estudo:
Observational_studies
/
Prognostic_studies
/
Risk_factors_studies
Limite:
Humans
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Int Ophthalmol
Ano de publicação:
2022
Tipo de documento:
Article
País de afiliação:
Israel