Italian Patient Satisfaction with wAMD Management: SWAN Study Results.

Purpose: Limited data is available on treatment satisfaction with the management of wet age-related macular degeneration (wAMD) among patients in Italy. In this cross-sectional real-world study, treatment satisfaction with anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (anti-VEGFs) was assessed in patients with wAMD in Italy.
Patients and Methods: This was a non-interventional, cross-sectional survey involving patients with wAMD receiving anti-VEGFs. The survey was administered through a virtual assistant via phone. Patients' treatment satisfaction was assessed using a newly developed Novartis Tailored Treatment Satisfaction Questionnaire (NVS TTSQ) and the validated Macular Disease Treatment Satisfaction Questionnaire (MacTSQ).
Results: Overall, 154 evaluable patients were enrolled in 5 centers across Italy. The mean (SD) age of the patients was 76.8 years (7.01). Overall treatment satisfaction score assessed by NVS TTSQ was 40.50 (7.11), with a mean of 9.97 (1.84) on the information domain and 22.98 (4.57) on the unmet need domain. Patients were satisfied with diagnosis communication (4.99 [1.30]), information provided on treatment administration (4.58 [1.49], range 0-6), the waiting room (4.40 [1.43]), and management of visits and injections at the center (5.14 [1.12]), general management of maculopathy at the center (5.22 [1.01]). Patients were not satisfied with their independence in terms of disease management (2.56 [2.45]); they would like additional information about the disease (5.38 [1.03]) and to discuss the injection procedures (4.02 [1.94]) with already-treated patients. The overall treatment satisfaction score on MacTSQ scale was 55.84 (10.13).
Conclusion: Patients with wAMD are satisfied with the overall management of their disease in Italy. However, patients would like to have more information on prognosis and management of the disease.
Competing Interests: Enrico Peiretti is a scientific advisor for Bayer and Novartis. He received travel grants from Alcon, Baush and Lomb, Sifi, and Allergan. Chiara Ascardi, Marta Bartezaghi, and Lorenzo De Santi were full-time employees of Novartis Farma S.p.A., Milano, MI, Italy at the time of the study. Francesco Bandello is a consultant/advisor for Abbvie, Alimera, Bayer, Boehringer-Ingelheim, Fidia Sooft, Hofmann La Roche, Novartis, Ntc Pharma, Oxurion Nv, and Sifi. Francesco Boscia is a consultant/advisor for Alcon, Abbvie, Bayer, Novartis, Roche, and Zeiss. Monica Varano serves as an advisory board member of Abbvie, Astellas, Bayer, Biogen, Novartis, and Roche. Giovanni Staurenghi is a consultant/advisor for Abbvie, Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Annexon Bioscience, Bayer Healthcare Pharmaceuticals, Boehringer, Centervue, Inc., Genentech, Heidelberg Engineering, Hoffman La Roche, Ltd., Iveric Bio, Medscape, Novartis Pharmaceuticals, Optos, Inc., and RetinAI. He received grant support from Carl Zeiss Meditec, Centervue, Inc., Heidelberg Engineering, Hoffman La Roche, Ltd., Nidek, Inc., Novartis Pharmaceuticals, Optos, Inc., and RetinAI. He received lecture and speaker bureau fees from Carl Zeiss, Heidelberg Engineering, Hoffman La Roche, Ltd., Meditec, Nidek, Inc., and Novartis Pharmaceuticals. He also received patent royalties from Ocular Instruments Inc. The authors report no other conflicts of interest in this work.
(© 2024 Peiretti et al.)