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Cohort studyOphthalmology · 2025

Disparities in Presentation and Anti-VEGF Therapy Initiation for Neovascular Age-Related Macular Degeneration: An Analysis of the Academy IRIS® Registry (Intelligent Research in Sight).

Binod Acharya, Bita Momenaei, Qiang Zhang … IRIS® Analytic Center Consortium

OphthalmologyCohort study

Black patients were less likely to initiate anti-VEGF treatment for neovascular age-related macular degeneration.

Disparities in Presentation and Anti-VEGF Therapy Initiation for Neovascular Age-Related Macular Degeneration: An Analysis of the Academy IRIS® Registry (Intelligent Research in Sight).

Binod Acharya et al. · Ophthalmology · 2025

Purpose

To investigate disparities in presentation and initiation of anti-VEGF therapy among patients with neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD).

Methods

With nAMD newly diagnosed between October 2016 and October 2021 from the American Academy of Ophthalmology IRIS® Registry (Intelligent Research in Sight).

n = 759 patients

Results

Black patients were less likely to start medication for their eye condition

RR 0.91 (95% CI 0.89 to 0.93)

CI excludes the null - significant

More results

Among the 918 759 patients with nAMD (61.5% female, 82.3% White), male, Black, and Hispanic patients demonstrated nAMD at younger ages (P < 0.001).

Of these, 719 204 patients (78.3%) initiated anti-VEGF treatment within 1 year, with 71.1% of patients (653 340/918 759) receiving the first injection within 1 month.

More results

Hispanic patients were 4% less likely to initiate treatment than non-Hispanic patients (RR, 0.96; 95% CI, 0.95-0.98; P < 0.001).

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Conclusion · 1 of 3

Over 20% of patients with nAMD did not initiate treatment within 1 year of presentation.

Conclusion · 2 of 3

Results suggest that lower treatment initiation rates are associated with Black and Asian race, Hispanic ethnicity, age younger than 60 years, and low-vision status.

Conclusion · 3 of 3

Efforts to improve treatment uptake might prioritize groups with lower initiation rates. FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE(S): Proprietary or commercial disclosure may be found in the Footnotes and Disclosures at the end of this article.

Post

Disparities in Presentation and Anti-VEGF Therapy Initiation for Neovascular Age-Related Macular Degeneration: An Analysis of the Academy IRIS® Registry (Intelligent Research in Sight).

Black patients were less likely to initiate anti-VEGF treatment for neovascular age-related macular degeneration.

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