Abstract
Purpose :
Digitalization in medicine, especially the electronic recording of patient data, is revolutionizing healthcare systems worldwide. The evaluation of real-world data collected under everyday conditions offers opportunities, but also poses challenges. Electronic medical registries are one way of compiling extensive patient data and using it for scientific research. Oregis is the first German national digital registry for ophthalmology and is under the auspices of the German Society of Ophthalmology (DOG). The aim of this study was to demonstrate that data from the new registry can be queried for scientific purposes: As part of this study, real-world data on the frequency and drug distribution of intravitreal injections in German centers in the period 2015-2021 was compiled for the first time since the introduction of oregis.
Methods :
An automated query of the data records of all patients who received intravitreal injections (IVOMs) at care facilities connected to oregis between 2015 and 2021 was carried out. The number of patients treated and the anti-VEGF drugs used - aflibercept, bevacizumab, brolucizumab and ranibizumab - were determined. The data was collected pseudonymized and anonymized.
Results :
At the time of data collection, 9 German ophthalmologic care facilities were connected to oregis. A total of 309.152 patients were registered during the observation period, 8.474 of whom received IVOMs. During the observation period, the number of participating centers, patients and intravitreal injections increased. The percentage of anti-VEGF preparations in the total number of injections fluctuated.
Conclusions :
Real-world data, such as that collected in oregis, offers great potential for improving healthcare. Oregis enables the presentation of the ophthalmologic care situation in Germany and contributes to research and quality assurance. The possibility of querying the data presented is representative of the large number of questions with which oregis can contribute to the presentation of ophthalmologic care in Germany.
This abstract was presented at the 2024 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Seattle, WA, May 5-9, 2024.