Prevalence and risk factors for impaired activities of daily living in patients with neo-vascular age-related macular degeneration who present for anti-VEGF treatment

Background/Objectives: To assess the prevalence and correlates of impaired activities of daily living (ADLs) in patients with neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD) who present for anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) therapy. Methods: In a clinic-based cohort of 437 patients with nAMD who presented for anti-VEGF therapy, the Older American Resources and Services Scale (OARS) was administered to assess for impairments in basic, instrumental and total ADL. Logistic regression analyses were conducted to determine odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for factors associated with ADL impairment. Results: The prevalence of impaired basic, instrumental and total ADL was 37.76%, 67.82% and 39.59%, respectively. In multivariate-adjusted models, moderate visual impairment [OR 5.65, 95% CI (2.31–13.83) and blindness [OR 5.43, 95% CI (2.09–14.12)] were associated with greater odds of impaired total ADL. Depressive symptoms [OR 2.08, 95% CI (1.08–4.00)], the presence of any disability [OR 3.16, 95% CI (1.64–0.07)] and never driving [OR 4.00, 95% CI (1.60–10.00)] were also positively associated with total ADL impairment. Better vision-related quality of life (QoL) was inversely associated with impaired instrumental ADL whilst higher health-related QoL scores were associated with decreased odds of total ADL impairment. Conclusions: There is a high prevalence rate of ADL impairment among nAMD patients presenting for therapy. Visual impairment, never driving, poor physical and mental health increased the odds of experiencing ADL impairment whilst better VRQoL and HRQoL reduced the odds of impairment.