Patient experiences in retinal trials: a cross-sectional study

BMC Ophthalmology

Table 1 Trial outcomes from the patients’ perspectives

Question	Response	n (%)
How did you benefit from participating in the trial? (N = 187 responses)	More frequent contact with my doctor	33 (41 %)
	Free medical care and services	35 (44 %)
	Remediation^a	12 (15 %)
	More knowledge about my eye condition	68 (85 %)
	Improved health	23 (29 %)
	Interaction with others with my condition	11 (14 %)
	Other	5 (6 %)
How have you felt since having the treatment?	Much better	32 (40 %)
	Somewhat better	18 (23 %)
	About the same	15 (19 %)
	Somewhat worse	3 (4 %)
	Much worse	0 (0 %)
Have you experienced any side effects from the treatment?	Yes^b	11 (14 %)
	No	50 (63 %)
	Unsure	5 (6 %)

^aRemediation refers to correction of visual health as defined by the specific retinal trial
^bSide effects listed by patients included pain, increased appetite, hair hanging in eye, headaches, cataract, blurred vision, smell, burning and gritty sensation in eye, small tingles in eye, and glaucoma

ISSN: 1471-2415