Posters

Characteristics, treatment patterns and healthcare resource utilisation in patients with dry eye disease (DED) in secondary eye-care settings in the United Kingdom

Poster Details

First Author: N.Habib UK

Co Author(s):    C. Siffel   A. Venerus   P. Horvat   V. Lascano   F. Grimson   C. Joseph     

Abstract Details

Purpose:

DED is a multifactorial, chronic inflammatory ocular surface condition. While a wealth of data from DED investigations in controlled settings are available, analyses of comorbidities, treatment patterns, and healthcare resource utilization (HRU) of patients with DED in real-world settings are needed to inform disease management. An analysis of real-world secondary care data was undertaken to describe the clinical characteristics, treatment patterns and HRU of UK patients with DED.

Setting:

Retrospective analysis of ophthalmology-specific electronic medical records of adult patients with a diagnosis of DED from three National Health Service (NHS) ophthalmology hospitals during the period 2006-2017.

Methods:

Patients with DED were identified via a rule-based algorithm and subsequently classified into two groups by disease severity: Group 1 (‘mild’) that received 1st line treatments (e.g., topical artificial tears) or none of the 2nd line treatments, and Group 2 (‘moderate-to-severe’) received 2nd line treatments (e.g., cyclosporine or topical corticosteroids) or had protective ocular procedures (e.g., surgical punctal occlusion, pulsed light therapy, therapeutic contact lenses). Patients contributed to the study data with one or both eyes depending on satisfaction of inclusion/exclusion criteria. Patient clinical characteristics and HRU were assessed. Data were analyzed at both the patient and eye level.

Results:

Of 3,555 patients/6,554 eyes, the majority (68%) were female of median age 67 years (64% 60+ years). Prior to DED diagnosis, 68% of patients received artificial tears. At DED diagnosis, 76% of patient eyes (4,987) had mild DED and 24% (1,567 eyes) had moderate-to-severe DED. Common ocular comorbidities included meibomian gland dysfunction (MGD) (32%; 2,119 eyes), glaucoma (30%; 1,936 eyes), and cataract (16%; 1,052 eyes). Patients averaged 5.47 eye clinic visits during the follow-up period; Group 2 (6.09) vs Group 1 (5.21). Post-diagnosis, 84% of patient eyes were prescribed pharmaceutical therapies; Group 2 (2.79) vs Group 1 (2.06).

Conclusions:

This study in UK secondary eye-care settings confirms that DED is common among women and elderly patients, and is often associated with ocular comorbidities such as MGD and cataract. Additionally, it was observed that pharmacological therapy prescriptions and visits to specialized ophthalmic clinics were more frequently observed in patients with moderate to severe DED compared with patients with mild disease. Future studies should further investigate DED real-world treatment patterns and HRU burden including an analysis of overall HRU costs incurred at a population level and translation of these costs to the NHS.

Financial Disclosure:

... is employed by a for-profit company with an interest in the subject of the presentation