Racial Differences in Anti-VEGF Intravitreal Injections Among Commercially Insured Beneficiaries

This study assessed racial and ethnic differences in receiving anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) intravitreal injections among commercially insured patients.

A retrospective cohort study of 104,430 patients diagnosed with wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD), diabetic retinopathy, central retinal vein occlusion (CRVO), and branch retinal vein occlusion (BRVO) in the Optum Research Database between 2011 and 2016. Main outcomes included receiving an intravitreal anti-VEGF treatment; the first type of treatment received, if any; and subsequent treatment with ranibizumab or aflibercept among patients who were first treated with bevacizumab.

In a logistic regression model in all 104,430 patients, Asian patients were significantly less likely to receive an anti-VEGF treatment compared to white patients (odds ratio [OR] = 0.725; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.667-0.789; P < .001), but Black and Hispanic patients were not. Overall, 19.9% (n = 20,753) of all included patients received treatment with intravitreal injections of anti-VEGF or steroids. In multinomial logistic models of treatment type among all patients who received intravitreal injections, Hispanic patients were less likely than white patients to initially be treated with ranibizumab (relative risk ratio [RRR] = 0.776; 95% CI, 0.647-0.929; P = .006) or aflibercept (RRR = 0.794; 95% CI, 0.654-0.964; P = .020). Black and Asian patients were not significantly more or less likely to receive different types of first-line injections compared to white patients. Among 17,092 patients who received bevacizumab as first-line therapy, Hispanic patients were less likely to subsequently transition to aflibercept than their white counterparts (RRR = 0.756; 95% CI, 0.634-0.903; P = .002).

The authors found minimal racial and ethnic differences in receiving anti-VEGF treatment among commercially insured patients with wet AMD, diabetic retinopathy, CRVO, and BRVO. These results are limited by the fact that all of the patients included were commercially insured, and there are limited data on the socioeconomic status of the patients in their sample. [.