Purpose: To identify risk factors for incorrect self-identification of the treatment eye before intravitreal injections.
Methods: This prospective study included consecutive patients who were asked to designate the eye for which the intravitreal injection was intended and were subsequently divided into two groups according to whether or not they identified the correct eye.
Results: Overall, 349 eyes (n = 349) were included, and 8.6% (n = 30) designated the incorrect eye or did not know which eye was intended for treatment. Incorrect designation was associated with diabetic macular edema (odds ratio [OR] = 0.33 [0.15-0.75]), first injection in the intended eye or ≥1 year since previous injection (OR = 0.34 [0.14-0.87]), Arabic native tongue (OR = 0.48 [0.22-1.01]), previous injection to the fellow eye (OR = 0.26 [0.10-0.64]), and concurrent treatment of both eyes (OR = 0.35 [0.16-0.74]). Multivariate analysis showed the first injection or ≥1 year since last injection in the treatment eye (R2 = 2.24%, P = 0.004, OR = 0.20 [0.07-0.57]) and previous injection in the fellow eye (R2 = 6.55%, P < 0.001, OR = 0.20 [0.07-0.52]) as significant independent predictors of incorrect identification.
Conclusion: Several factors are associated with a greater probability for incorrect patient's self-identification of the eye laterality intended for intravitreal injections. These findings may help identify patients with a higher risk of such potential errors.