Title : Exploring Patient-Reported Outcomes in Macular Oedema Treated with Iluvien (Fluocinolone Acetonide) Implant: A Single-Centre Study
Abstract:
Aim:
To evaluate the impact of the Iluvien implant on patient-reported quality of life in individuals with macular oedema. This study assessed changes in health status across functional, psychological, and visual domains using the EQ-5D-5L and EQ-VAS instruments.
Methods:
Semi-structured telephone interviews were conducted with 18 patients (n=25 treated eyes) who received Iluvien implants between April 2018 and March 2024 at the Queen’s Medical Centre, Nottingham, UK. Participants retrospectively provided EQ-5D-5L domain scores (mobility, self-care, usual activities, pain/discomfort, anxiety/depression) and EQ-VAS (0–100 scale) ratings for both pre- and post-injection health states. Patients were recruited at least 12 months post-treatment. Utility values were derived using the UK EQ-5D-5L value set developed by Devlin et al. (2018).
Results:
The median participant age was 66 years (mean=65.3, range 27–84). The most common pre-injection health state was 11111 (full health) in 16% (n=4) of patients. Post-injection, health states were more varied, with 11211 and 11111 most frequent (12%, n=3 each). While most domains remained stable, severity increased in pain/discomfort and usual activities; the percentage reporting no pain decreased from 72% to 60%, and for usual activities, from 48% to 40%. The EQ-VAS median declined from 70 (IQR: 50–80) to 60 (IQR: 40–80) post-injection, though this change was not statistically significant (p = 0.073). Utility values also showed a slight decrease, from a median of 0.874 (IQR: 0.764–0.937) to 0.808 (IQR: 0.419–0.937) post-injection (p = 0.082). Notably, post-injection utility scores demonstrated greater dispersion, with several low-scoring outliers, highlighting inter-individual variation in treatment response.
