Factors affecting the use of antioxidant supplements in patients with late AMD

Abstract

BackgroundThe purpose of this study was to assess the use of oral antioxidant supplements in patients with late age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and to identify influencing factors that may affect the use of such supplements.MethodsThe study included 47 patients with late AMD. Using a questionnaire, the patients were asked for their demographic, ophthalmologic, and systemic data, their source of recommendation of antioxidant use for AMD, and/or their reasons for nonuse. The demographic, ophthalmologic, and systemic information was correlated with use or nonuse of oral antioxidant supplements for AMD.ResultsSixty-eight percent (32/47) of patients took antioxidant supplements for AMD and 32% (15/47) of patients did not. There were no statistically significant differences in demographic, ophthalmologic, and systemic parameters between patients with late AMD who used supplements and those who did not. Two thirds of patients with late AMD (66%, 31/47) reported being recommended oral antioxidant supplements for AMD by their ophthalmologist. Patients who did not use antioxidant supplements either did not obtain any recommendation or did not believe in their benefits.ConclusionThis study shows that most patients with late AMD use antioxidant supplements despite the recommendation to do so being missing in the Age-Related Eye Disease Study. Our study emphasizes the importance of seeking further therapeutic options for patients with late AMD.

What Advice Is Currently Given to Patients with Age-Related Macular Degeneration (AMD) by Eyecare Practitioners, and How Effective Is It at Bringing about a Change in Lifestyle? A Systematic Review

“…Yu et al (2014) also reported similar findings in a German cohort [ 60 , 61 ]. The first study surveyed 47 patients with AMD attending eye clinics in Germany and found that 66% were recommended oral antioxidant supplements from their referring ophthalmologist, 68.1% of the total cohort were taking oral supplements for AMD, and 21.3% had never received a recommendation for supplements [ 60 ].…”

“…The first study surveyed 47 patients with AMD attending eye clinics in Germany and found that 66% were recommended oral antioxidant supplements from their referring ophthalmologist, 68.1% of the total cohort were taking oral supplements for AMD, and 21.3% had never received a recommendation for supplements [ 60 ]. The second study found that 36 out of 65 patients (55%) were taking oral anti-oxidant supplements for AMD with the most common source of recommendations being from an ophthalmologist (55.4%) and, as reported in previous studies, the main reason (69%) for not taking supplements was there being no recommendation [ 61 ].…”

“…In summary, there was minimal evidence regarding compliance of patients to advice regarding general dietary changes, with the majority of studies focusing on compliance to vitamin supplement recommendations. The proportion of patients taking vitamin supplements for AMD in the included studies varied widely between around 40% and 68% [ 46 , 47 , 51 , 56 , 60 , 61 ]. It was not always clear whether these supplements conformed to AREDS guidelines.…”

“…For example, Stevens et al (2014) recruited patients from a voluntary sector patient support group, which may have preferentially included people who were more inclined to engage with the management of their condition [ 58 ]. Thirdly, many of the studies [ 22 , 44 , 45 , 46 , 47 , 51 , 53 , 55 , 56 , 59 , 60 , 61 ] in this review recruited participants from single clinics. This decreases the generalisability of the results as the patients attending one clinic in one city may have different care experiences to patients in other places around the world.…”

“…Previous studies have shown that, when informing patients of new medication, it is important to inform them about what the medication is, how it will help and how long they should take it for as this improves compliance [ 85 , 86 ]. The importance of ECP advice is highlighted by the finding in this review that the main barrier to patients taking supplements was not having them recommended [ 22 , 51 , 56 , 61 ].…”