New Study Shows Many U.S. Contact Lens Wearers Do Not Comply With Recommended Replacement...( In study con...),Health

In study, contact lens wearers who replace contact lenses on schedule are more comfortable; Replacement schedule compliance highest with daily disposable and one-month replacement lenses.

Atlanta, GA (Vocus) June 4, 2009 -- A new study demonstrated the lack of compliance with manufacturer recommended replacement of contact lenses among U.S. contact lens wearers. In a study of 1,654 contact lens wearers, 59 percent of two-week replacement contact lens patients wore their lenses for longer than the manufacturer recommended replacement frequency (MRRF). Comparatively, 29 percent of one-month replacement contact lens wearers and only 15 percent of daily disposable wearers wore their lenses for longer than the MRRF.

The study was conducted by the Centre for Contact Lens Research (CCLR) at the University of Waterloo School of Optometry in partnership with David B. Sarwer, Ph.D, associate professor of psychology in the Departments of Psychiatry and Surgery at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. CIBA VISION announced these results as part of a study examining replacement schedule compliance.

In this study, the CCLR also investigated patient behaviors around contact lens replacement schedule compliance. The most frequent reasons for wearing lenses beyond the MRRF were “forgetting which day to replace lenses” (51 percent) and “to save money” (26 percent). However, patients do report having important discussions with their eye doctors about the impact of adherence to a replacement schedule: 87 percent of patients reported discussing health effects of non-compliance, and 77 percent reported discussing comfort effects with their eye care practitioner.

“Although patients appear to be aware of potential complications of not replacing their contact lenses when recommended, compliance to the replacement schedules is still apparently low, p
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