Adherence to a prescribed contact lens replacement routine is often scattered throughout the month with contact lens wearers showing no consistent pattern in replacing their lenses with respect to date or day, according to new research presented at the American Academy of Optometry meeting. To understand patient behavior as it pertains to wearing time and the replacement of their reusable contact lenses, a masked internet survey tracked the exact dates that 804 spherical reusable hydrogel and silicone hydrogel contact lens wearers replaced their lenses. On average, the data represented four to nine replacement cycles covering 4,196 lens replacements. The study was sponsored by VISTAKON parent company Johnson & Johnson Vision Care, Inc.
Over these multiple replacement cycles, patients recorded the exact dates they replaced their lenses in online weekly surveys. Brand use verification was established by eyecare professional identification or UPC code validation.
Of patients with Manufacturer Recommended Replacement Frequency of one to two weeks, only 8 percent of replacements occurred on the first of each month. The replacement of lenses was scattered throughout the month and showed no consistent pattern with respect to date or day. Patients wearing lenses with a MRRF of one-month replaced their lenses on the first of the month only 28 percent of the time. Again, patient behavior showed no consistent pattern of their lens replacement with respect to date or day.
“In the last few years, many have suggested a simplistic solution such as replacing the lenses on a specific day or days of the month as an easy answer to the problem,” says study co-author Giovanna Olivares, OD, director, Professional Education, VISTAKON Division of Johnson & Johnson Vision Care, Inc. “The recorded replacement behavior of the patients in this study would indicate that this is not a solution that is highly successful.”
“Extensive patient education or external reinforcement, such as electronic reminders, may need to be instituted to help contact lens wearers better adhere to a contact lens prescribed regimen,” she adds.
