Use of anti-VEGF drugs for eye disease in Tuscany: development and test of indicators of treatment intensity

Abstract Purpose: We aimed to develop indicators based on electronic administrative data to compare treatment intensity at a hospital level in Tuscany, Italy. Methods: Data from 3 university hospitals (UHs), 11 local hospitals (LHs) and 2 private hospitals were analysed. Patients newly treated with an intravitreal injection were followed up for 365 days. Indicator #1 concerned hospitals with >80% of injections linked to a drug and patients with all injections linked to a drug. Indicator #2 included patients who received ⩾3 injections during the first 90 days, regardless of injection-drug linkage. Results: Indicator #1 was computed on four hospitals and included 3210 patients (48.3%). The average number of injections was 3.24 in the largest UH1. Compared to the latter, indicator #1 was significantly lower in UH2 and UH3 (−0.47 and −0.58, respectively; p < 0.001). Indicator #2 was computed on all hospitals and included 2789 patients (41.9%). UH1 delivered about 4.33 injections. Compared to the latter, LH4 delivered +0.62 injections (p < 0.001) and nine other hospitals delivered between −0.22 and −0.94 injections (p < 0.05). Conclusion: The two indicators proved to have the potential for supporting clinicians and policy makers in promoting the appropriate treatment intensity with intravitreal anti-vascular endothelial growth factor drugs. Keywords Anti-vascular endothelial growth factor, intravitreal drugs, indicator, health records, treatment, retina, appropriate treatment intensity