Clinical effectiveness of screening for age-related macular degeneration: A systematic review

INTRODUCTION: Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is an eye disease that occurs in patients over 50 years old. Early diagnosis enables timely treatment to stabilize disease progression. However, the fact that the disease is asymptomatic in its early stages can delay treatment until it progresses. As such, screening in specific contexts can be an early detection tool to reduce the clinical and social impact of the disease. OBJECTIVE: Assess the effectiveness of screening methods for early detection of AMD in adults aged 50 years or older. METHODS: A systematic review of comparative observational studies on AMD screening methods in those aged 50 years or older, compared with no screening or any other strategy. A literature search was conducted in the MEDLINE (via PubMed), Embase, Cochrane Library and Lilacs database. RESULTS: A total of 5,290 studies were identified, three of which met the inclusion criteria and were selected for the systematic review. A total of 8,733 individuals (16,780 eyes) were included in the analysis. The screening methods assessed were based on optical coherence tomography (OCT) compared with color fundus photography, and OCT and telemedicine testing compared to a standard eye exam. CONCLUSION: The systematized data are limited and only suggest satisfactory performance in early screening of the population at risk of developing AMD. OCT and the telemedicine technique showed promising results in AMD screening. However, methodological problems were identified in the studies selected and the level of evidence was considered low.