Abstract
Purpose :
The COVID-19 pandemic has led to stay-at-home orders which may lead to fewer medical and ophthalmology visits. Efficacy of treatments for retinal vascular diseases such as wet age-related macular degeneration (wet AMD) depend on strict adherence to regimens of anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) injections. The purpose of this study is to describe and compare the number of bevacizumab injections administered in 2019 and 2020 to determine if the COVID-19 pandemic may have affected usage.
Methods :
We conducted a single-center, retrospective observational study which compared the number of bevacizumab injections in January through November 2020 with the number of bevacizumab injections in 2019. The total number of injections for each month and year were compared.
Results :
The total number of bevacizumab injections in 2020 (Jan-Nov) was 683 compared to 801 in 2019 (Jan-Nov), a 14.7% reduction (p = 0.02). Significantly fewer injections were administered in March, April, and May 2020 (p < 0.01), and from August to November (p < 0.01). The fewest number of injections for 2020 were administered in April (n = 45) and May (n = 45).
Conclusions :
In this patient population, a significant reduction in bevacizumab injections occurred during the COVID pandemic, and the drop in injections was first seen in March 2020 which coincided with stay-at-home orders within the catchment area. These data suggest that the Covid-19 pandemic likely affected the number of patients coming to the retina clinic. Additional data is needed to determine if other factors may have contributed to this decline, and if these missed visits has adversely affected visual acuity outcomes.
This is a 2021 ARVO Annual Meeting abstract.