%0 Journal Article
%T Lost to follow-up of patients who received intravitreal anti-vascular endothelial growth factor therapy to treat four different retina disorders in an individual center in Brazil.
%A Takahashi VKL
%A Balbino M
%A Ruppert ADP
%A de Carvalho LS
%A Seixas RCS
%J SAGE Open Med
%V 11
%N 0
%D 2023
%M 37808513
暂无%R 10.1177/20503121231199655
%X <B>UNASSIGNED: </B>To identify risk factors for loss to follow-up in periodic intravitreal anti-vascular endothelial growth factor injections for the treatment patients with diabetic macular edema, subretinal neovascularization, age-related macular degeneration, and retinal vein occlusion in a single eye center in São Paulo, Brazil.<BR><B>UNASSIGNED: </B>This was a retrospective longitudinal study that gathered information from 992 patients who required intravitreal anti-vascular endothelial growth factor drugs over 6 months. The authors included age, eye disease, laterality, monthly income, distance, and payment mode as risk factors.<BR><B>UNASSIGNED: </B>Two hundred and seventy patients (29.93%) were lost to follow-up. Multivariate analysis showed age, monthly income, eye involvement, and type of medical assistance independently associated with loss to follow-up. The odds of loss to follow-up were greater among older patients than those less than 50 years (reference), p < 0.001. The odds of loss to follow-up were greater among patients who received unilateral treatment than those who received bilateral injections (p = 0.013). Concerning gross monthly income, there were no differences in the odds of the four salary strata; the data also indicate an absence of difference in the three strata of patients' distance to the clinic. Considering the diagnosis, only age-related macular degeneration showed greater odds of loss to follow-up (p = 0.016). Finally, the data suggest greater odds of loss to follow-up in private patients than in those on a health care plan (p < 0.001).<BR><B>UNASSIGNED: </B>Loss to follow-up is paramount because many patients may remain unassisted concerning their eye diseases. Identifying the risk factors is crucial to enforcing measures to increase adherence and the long-term success of the treatment.