The relationship between socio-economic status and visual acuity at presentation and following one year of treatment in patients with neovascular age related macular degeneration

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Nadav Levinger, Dr. Gala Beykin, PhD. Michelle Grunin, Dr. Diego Almeida, Prof. Jaime Levy, Dr. Hagai Levine, Dr. Edward Averbukh, Prof. Itay Chowers

Department of Ophthalmology, Hadassah-Hebrew University Medical Center, Jerusalem, Israel
Braun School of Public Health and Community Medicine, Hadassah-Hebrew University Hospital, Jerusalem, Israel

: Int J Ophthalmic Pathol

Abstract

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Purpose: To evaluate for association among socio-economic status (SES), baseline visual acuity, clinical parameters, and treatment outcome in neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nvAMD). Methods: Retrospective single center cohort study. Patients' residential addresses were extracted from medical records. SES was determined for each patient based on the 2008 Israeli census, and classified into four different groups. Clinical and demographic parameters were extracted from patient charts. The relationship between the SES cluster and clinical parameters was then evaluated. Results: A weak correlation was found between baseline visual acuity (VA) of the first eye diagnosed with nvAMD and SES (R=-0.13, p=0.049; n=233). No correlation was found between the SES and baseline VA of the second eye (R=-0.05, p=0.95). SES was not associated with the number of anti-VEGF injections of the first (p=0.943) or second eye (p=0.704). No association was found between the SES and the VA outcome of the first or second eye after 1 year of therapy (p=0.421, p=0.900 respectively). Central subfield thickness (CST) at presentation as measured by OCT was associated with SES ( r= -0.31 p= 0.001). Conclusion: The lack of association between SES and visual outcome in nvAMD suggests that there are no Social disparities in ophthalmologic care in our study population

Biography

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Nadav Levinger is ophthalmology resident in his second year of training at the Department of Ophthalmology, Hadassah-Hebrew University Medical Center, Jerusalem, Israel. From the beginning of the residency his major fields of research were medical retina, cataract and refractive surgery. He is hoping to bring a comprehensive look to the field of ophthalmology. Among others, Dr. N. Levinger teaches the medical and nursing students of the Hebrew University.

E-mail: nadav.levinger@gmail.com