OBJECTIVES: The effectiveness of intravitreal anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (anti-VEGF) agents is usually lower in real-world settings compared to randomized clinical trials (RCTs). Identifying matching cohorts might bridge the gap in clinical outcomes, but there is uncertainty about which factors to include in the matching process. This study aimed to identify potential confounders that explain the difference in readouts between non-interventional studies (NIS) and RCTs in nAMD patients using an algorithm based on ranibizumab real-world data (RWD), in reference to the CATT studyresults.

METHODS: A step-wise, predictive analytics approach was applied to develop a decision model where the terminal nodes represented the most influential factors on visual acuity (VA) at the end of year 1. The decision tree used electronic medical records (EMR) data from the USA. The algorithm was validated using EMR data from UK and Australia.

RESULTS: The algorithm identified the following criteria as impactful on readouts: 1) Age>