Abstract
Purpose :
Global guidelines highlight the need to provide lifestyle modification advice for the management of the early stages of Age related Macular Degeneration (AMD). However, research shows that there is a gap between recommended advice and actual patient experiences, with limited research from the patient perspective. We conducted a mixed method, multi-centre study, to explore the experience of receiving lifestyle advice in people with AMD, to test the hypothesis of inconsistent advice delivery and to investigate the patient-reported barriers.
Methods :
Participants with AMD from 10 hospital sites and 24 optometry practices in England were recruited to complete a survey about their lifestyle advice experience related to AMD. The survey was divided into three sections: patient demographics, previous lifestyle advice experience, and lifestyle advice received at their most recent appointment. Inclusion criteria for participating in the study was a diagnosis of AMD in at least one eye, less than 3 anti-VEGF injections in the first diagnosed eye and no other ocular conditions. The quantitative data was analysed using IBM SPSS 25 and qualitative data from free text question responses were thematically analysed using NVivo 12.
Results :
In total, 404 participants completed the survey. The majority of participants were female (n=244; 60.4%) and were in the 71-80 year age bracket (n=172; 42.6%). Most of the participants had unilateral late AMD (n=184; 45.5%), bilateral late AMD (n=89; 22%), or bilateral intermediate AMD (n=77; 19.1%). Sixty-six percent (n=125) of the participants reported not receiving any lifestyle advice before their most recent appointment. The majority of these participants subsequently made lifestyle changes (n=79; 68.1%). Only 16% (n=57) of participants reported receiving lifestyle advice at the most recent appointment. Overall, 53% of the participants reported a preference for lifestyle advice in written format, but only 8.9% of the participants received written advice at their most recent appointment.
Conclusions :
The results of our study corroborate our hypothesis that patients are not being given consistent lifestyle modification advice, despite meeting the criteria for advice provision. Our results highlight the need for more patient informed guidelines to improve lifestyle advice provision for AMD.
This abstract was presented at the 2024 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Seattle, WA, May 5-9, 2024.