[Patient-Reported Treatment Satisfaction with Stereotactic Radiotherapy in Neovascular Age-Related Macular...

Stereotactic radiotherapy (SRT) in conjunction with the common intravitreal injections (IVI) is a new adjuvant approach in neovascular age-related macular degeneration (AMD) patients. The aim of our study was to investigate factors influencing patient satisfaction one year after SRT.

A questionnaire was administered to 35 AMD patients who had consecutively undergone SRT using the IRay^®-device at the Department of Ophthalmology, University of Lübeck. In addition to descriptive statistics, responses were evaluated by correlation analysis. Moreover, subgroup analyses were performed, using a classification of IVI responders (annual injection rate after SRT ≤ 3), visual acuity (VA) responders (VA improvement ≥ 0.2 logMAR) and double responders (annual injection rate after SRT ≤ 3 as well as VA improvement ≥ 0.2 logMAR).

The response rate was 86%. With respect to their treatment expectations, twice as many patients hoped to receive less injections instead of a better vision. Those hoping for less injections were significantly more satisfied with their clinical outcome. In addition, IVI-responders were significantly more satisfied than IVI-non-responders, while VA-responders were not, compared to VA-non-responders.

Patient satisfaction seems to depend on patients' comprehension of how SRT affects their disease and what kinds of expectations were set. It is of utmost importance to provide the patients with adequate and comprehensible education and to define realistic goals prior to SRT.