An enhanced educational intervention for improving confidence in the eye health benefits of appropriate care for age-related macular degeneration: a randomized controlled trial.

Abstract

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a leading cause of irreversible vision loss worldwide. Appropriate care is available for patients, reducing the risk of AMD progression. Unfortunately, patients do not always receive appropriate eye care. Our study aimed to develop and evaluate an enhanced educational intervention focused on the health benefits expected from receiving appropriate eye care for AMD. We conducted a randomized, single-blind, controlled trial between May 2022 and October 2023 at an intermediate-tier not-for-profit clinic, the Centre for Eye Health. We recruited 137 patients previously diagnosed with intermediate or advanced (neovascular, geographic atrophy) AMD. Patients were enrolled and randomized (68 enhanced education, 69 standard care). On the intention-to-treat analysis, there was no significant difference between groups with regards to the primary outcome, confidence in the eye health benefits of AMD-related care at 6 months (P = .25). On a priori-defined subgroup analysis, enhanced education resulted in a clinically meaningful and statistically significant differential improvement in confidence in the eye health benefits of AMD-related care for patients who were diagnosed with AMD less than 5 years ago (Pinteraction = .036). Further study is needed to confirm whether enhanced education can improve confidence in eye health care benefits for newly diagnosed AMD patients. Trial registration: anzctr.org.au Identifier: ACTRN12622000984796.