Patient Preferences Associated with Anti-Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Therapies for Neovascular Age-Related Macular Degeneration and Diabetic Macular Edema

Figures & data

Table 1 Anti-Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Treatment Attributes, Levels, and Definitions Provided to Patients

Attribute/Level	Definition
Vision
Good	Able to read small print in magazines/newspapers with good lighting.
Moderate	Able to recognize faces and read newspaper headlines/writing on TV (medium print).
Poor	Able to navigate around a room and make out large objects, but not able to see faces/TV/read clearly.
Cost per treatment to the insurance company
Low cost	$50
High cost	$1200
Cost per treatment to you, the patient
Low cost	$5
High cost	$70
Frequency of treatments: How often you will have to come to the clinic to be assessed for possible treatment.
More frequent	Every 4 weeks
Less frequent	Every 8 weeks
Drug label status: A drug can be used to treat different medical problems. If the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the medication to be used for a certain medical problem, this is called “on-label.” Many drugs are widely used “off-label.” For example, aspirin is commonly used “off-label” to prevent heart attacks and strokes.
On-label	Medication is approved by the FDA to treat this disease.
Off-label	Medication has not been approved by the FDA to treat this disease.

Figure 1 Illustrative treatment profile comparison presented to patients.

Table 2 Baseline Patient Demographics

Baseline Variable	Surveyed Cohort N=300
Female, n (%)	162 (54.0)
Age, n (%)
18–39 years	4 (1.3)
40–64 years	62 (20.7)
65–79 years	132 (44.0)
≥80 years	102 (34.0)
Highest level of education, n (%)
Did not complete high school	25 (8.3)
High school	201 (67.0)
Undergraduate degree	57 (19.0)
Graduate/professional degree	14 (4.7)
Chose not to answer	3 (1.0)

Table 3 Utility Values and Relative Importance of Anti-Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Treatment Attributes

Treatment Attribute	Level	Mean Utility Value	Relative Importance
Vision	Good	0.95	40.4%
	Moderate	0.02
	Poor	−0.97
Cost to patient	Low cost	0.55	23.1%
	High cost	−0.55
Drug label status	On-label	0.50	21.3%
	Off-label	−0.50
Treatment frequency	More frequent	−0.29	12.2%
	Less frequent	0.29
Cost to insurance provider	Low cost	0.07	3.0%
	High cost	−0.07

Figure 2 Relative importance of treatment attributes for patients receiving intravitreal anti-vascular endothelial growth factor therapy for neovascular age-related macular degeneration or diabetic macular edema, stratified by age.

Figure 3 Relative importance of treatment attributes for patients receiving intravitreal anti-vascular endothelial growth factor therapy for neovascular age-related macular degeneration or diabetic macular edema, stratified by highest education level.