Abstract
Purpose :
The COVID-19 pandemic significantly disrupted outpatient ophthalmologic care. Factors such as income, race, language and age may contribute to healthcare barriers which were exacerbated by the pandemic. Patients requiring ophthalmologic care, especially those on a regimen of anti-VEGF intravitreal injections, faced challenges in receiving routine treatment. Patients treated for diseases such as age-related macular degeneration (AMD) risk permanent vision loss if treatment is delayed. This study seeks to explore the sociodemographic factors that influenced patient follow-up during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Methods :
The electronic medical record for the NJ Retina group was searched for subjects that had intravitreal injections with any anti-VEGF medication to treat AMD, using CPT and ICD-10 codes respectively, in January-February of 2020. These patients were divided based on if they attended the follow-up injection appointment within 2 weeks past the recommended interval. Information from their charts was used including age, sex, marital status, race, ethnicity, language, insurance type, time as a patient and zip code. Median household income data by zip code in New Jersey, from the US Census Bureau, were used to estimate average household income. Statistical analysis of factors was performed using SPSS v26 software.
Results :
4242 patients had intravitreal injections during the chosen timeframe. 3527 of them attended their follow-up appointment and 715 did not. Those who followed up tended to be younger and patients of the practice for longer than those who did not. Those who followed up had a higher percentage of people who were white, married and insured (table A). A logistic regression was performed to ascertain the effects of age, sex, marital status, language, insurance and income on the likelihood of follow up (table B). This model was statistically significant and demonstrated that decreased age, being married, speaking English and having Medicare or a Group Policy as primary insurance were independent predictors of follow-up.
Conclusions :
Sociodemographic factors, including age, marital status, race, language and insurance status were associated with significant differences in patient follow-up for intravitreal injections to treat AMD during the COVID-19 pandemic.
This is a 2021 ARVO Annual Meeting abstract.