Many contact lens wearers fail to replace their lenses on time, don’t remember the name of their contact lens solutions and don’t replace their contact lens storage case when it gets old and dirty.
These are some of the findings of a new study conducted by researchers at the Centre for Contact Lens Research (CCLR) at the University of Waterloo (Ontario, Canada).
A total of 158 U.S. eye care practitioners assisted in the study by distributing surveys to their contact lens patients. A total of 1,654 of the returned patient surveys were eligible for analysis.
The mean age of contact lens wearers in the study was 34 years (range: 14 to 79 years). The majority wore their lenses on a daily wear basis, but 12 percent reported wearing extended wear contact lenses on a continuous basis.
Among the results of the study:
- 16 percent of participants wore daily disposable contacts; 45 percent wore 2-week replacement silicone hydrogel contact lenses; 39 percent wore 1-month replacement silicone hydrogel lenses.
- 20 percent of participants were unsure of the type of contact lenses they were wearing.
- 52 percent of those wearing 2-week disposable contact lenses, 28 percent of those wearing 1-month replacement lenses and 12 percent of those wearing daily disposable lenses did not replace their contacts on a timely basis.
- The overall rate of patient noncompliance with the replacement frequency recommended by their eye doctor was 38 percent.
- When asked about their lens care regimen, 40 percent could not recall or did not know the name of their contact lens care products.
Generally, contact lens cases should be replaced at least every 3 months, but only 50 percent of the study participants reported doing so. A total of 20 percent reported replacing their case every 6 months, 16 percent said they replaced their case annually and 14 precent aid they had never replaced their lens storage case.
The researchers also found that end-of-day contact lens discomfort was reported by a higher proportion of contact lens wearers (51 percent) who failed to replace their contact lenses on time.
A full report of the study appears in the June 2010 issue of Contact Lens Spectrum.
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