[The Hamburg register for intravitreal injection therapies (QIVOM)]

Intravitreal drug delivery belongs to the most common medical procedures, with approximately 1.5 million treatments per year in Germany. However, for this enormous challenge to provision of proper care, there is a lack of empirical data regarding the treatment process and its clinical and subjective effect.

This publication presents the development and structure of the Hamburg register for intravitreal therapies (QIVOM). Patients undergoing intravitreal injection therapy were invited to join the register study. Patients were recruited from the Hamburg eye clinics in Heidberg-Nord and Barmbek as well as from the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE). Both subjective patient-reported information about the perception of their eye disease and its treatment as well as medical parameters were stored in a central electronic database.

Of the first 162 study patients (aged 41-95 years), 64% suffered from wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD), 22% had a retinal vein occlusion, and 11% a diabetic macula edema. Disease severity and subjective impairment were heterogenous. Among these patients, 31.8% had a visual acuity above 10/20 on the treated eye compared to 79.1% on the other eye. The reduced ability to read was the most relevant limitation for more than one third of patients. However, 62% were able to drive a vehicle. An improvement of vision through intravitreal therapy was experienced by 45%.

Collection of patient-reported as well as treatment-related data comprises the advantage of the newly created register. This extension of the data basis should deliver new findings in the future and contribute to quality assurance in intravitreal care.