OBJECTIVES: Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is a leading cause of blindness. Anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (anti-VEGF) therapy has become a primary line of treatment for patients with diabetic retinopathy. The objective of this research was to characterize patients at the initiation of anti-VEGF therapy in diverse healthcare settings in the United States.

METHODS: Patients from 3 specialty ophthalmology networks and 2 integrated delivery networks within the OMNY Health Database with any indication of DR (diagnosis codes: E11.31-E11.3599) and anti-VEGF therapy (HCPCS codes: J9035, J2778, J0178) from 2017 to 2022 were included. Demographic characteristics were tabulated at first DR diagnosis. Visual acuity results of the better seeing eye were taken within 30 days prior/up to anti-VEGF initiation. The Snellen visual acuity results were converted to Logarithm of the Minimum Angle of Resolution (LogMAR) values. Visual acuity categories of counting fingers, hand motion, light perception, and no light perception were set at 2.0, 2.4, 2.7, and 3.0, respectively.

RESULTS: Across all years, 6,861 patients were included. Distribution of gender (56% male), race (72% white, 15% black, 13% other among known categories), age (65% ≥ 61 years, 35% 21-60 years, <1% ≤ 20 years), and region (38% Northeast, 34% West, 27% South, <1% Midwest) were tabulated. The mean (standard deviation) LogMAR was 0.308 (0.328). The mean (standard deviation) for white, black, and other was 0.267 (0.290), 0.292 (0.301), and 0.312 (0.276), respectively.

CONCLUSIONS: Results provide insight into characteristics and visual impairment of DR patients at anti-VEGF initiation. White patients had better visual acuity than black patients, while patients categorized as other had the worst. Further analyses would be helpful to better understand race disparities in visual acuity at the initiation of anti-VEGF therapy.