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. 2021 Jun 23;11(1):13152.
doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-92567-4.

Impact of neovascular age-related macular degeneration: burden of patients receiving therapies in Japan

Shigeru Honda  1 , Yasuo Yanagi  2 , Hideki Koizumi  3 , Yirong Chen  4 , Satoru Tanaka  5 , Manami Arimoto  6 , Kota Imai  5
Affiliations

Impact of neovascular age-related macular degeneration: burden of patients receiving therapies in Japan

Shigeru Honda et al. Sci Rep. .

Abstract

The chronic eye disorder, neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD), is a common cause of permanent vision impairment and blindness among the elderly in developed countries, including Japan. This study aimed to investigate the disease burden of nAMD patients under treatment, using data from the Japan National Health and Wellness surveys 2009-2014. Out of 147,272 respondents, 100 nAMD patients reported currently receiving treatment. Controls without nAMD were selected by 1:4 propensity score matching. Healthcare Resource Utilisation (HRU), Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL), and work productivity loss were compared between the groups. Regarding HRU, nAMD patients had significantly increased number of visits to any healthcare provider (HCP) (13.8 vs. 8.2), ophthalmologist (5.6 vs. 0.8), and other HCP (9.5 vs. 7.1) compared to controls after adjusting for confounding factors. Additionally, nAMD patients had reduced HRQoL and work productivity, i.e., reduced physical component summary (PCS) score (46.3 vs. 47.9), increased absenteeism (18.14% vs. 0.24%), presenteeism (23.89% vs. 12.44%), and total work productivity impairment (33.57% vs. 16.24%). The increased number of ophthalmologist visits were associated with decreased PCS score, increased presenteeism and total work productivity impairment. The current study highlighted substantial burden for nAMD patients, requiring further attention for future healthcare planning and treatment development.

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Conflict of interest statement

This study was funded by Novartis Pharma K.K., Japan. ST, MA, KI are employees at Novartis Pharma K.K., Japan. YC is an employee of Kantar Health, Singapore. Kantar Health, Singapore received funding from Novartis Pharma K.K., Japan to conduct the analyses and develop the manuscript. SH, YY, HK received personal fees as advisory board from Novartis Pharma K.K., Japan for this study.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Respondent flow diagram. NHWS National Health and Wellness Survey, nAMD neovascular age-related macular degeneration.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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