Purpose:
The American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) developed IRIS® Registry (Intelligent Research in Sight) as part of the profession's shared goal of continual improvement in the delivery of eye care. As first of its type, this study will utilize data from the IRIS registry to assess the epidemiology and to estimate the burden of dry eye disease (DED).
Methods:
The IRIS registry is a comprehensive clinical ophthalmic outpatient database of over 37 million unique patients and 148 million patient visits in the US. In addition to supporting physicians, future analyses of the IRIS Registry can help improve the knowledge on disease management of eye conditions. This study will discuss the methodology of the ongoing study. A diagnosis of DED will be determined by an algorithm using specific indicators of DED (i.e., ICD-9 and CPT codes). From the population of adult (≥18 yrs) patients, prevalence and incidence of DED will be estimated. Real-world evidence collected on treatment patterns will provide information to better understand management of DED.
Results:
We will discuss the methodology as well as the overall and annual prevalence and incidence of DED estimated from the IRIS registry database from 2013 through June 2017. Further analysis of the adult patients with DED will include patient demographics, clinical characteristics and comorbid conditions which commonly exist with DED. The study will enable an overview at the continuum of eye care through the same specialty for the management of DED, by analyzing treatment patterns of patients receiving medications, including concurrent medication use, and health care resource utilization (i.e., number of ophthalmic visits per month).
Conclusions:
Growing availability of electronic health records provides researchers with a wide range of opportunities to better understand patient populations and disease management. This study will provide important insight into the epidemiology and burden of DED in the US, and its design will be useful for future studies in this patient population.
