Contact lens usage characteristics among young individuals and their perception regarding future refractive surgery

Abstract

Dear Editor, The use of contact lenses for visual, therapeutic, and cosmetic reasons has increased over the last few years and is highest among the young adults [1,2]. There are still reports of complications with the regular use of contact lenses [3][4][5], which range from mild to severe and occur with all lens modalities. The most common complications include giant papillary conjunctivitis, corneal abrasion, edema or ulcer, microbial keratitis, neovascularization, and peripheral infiltrates [2,5]. In addition, allergic conjunctivitis and dry eye may cause discomfort and contact lens drop-out.Our study aims to assess the contact lens usage characteristics in young adults and their perception regarding future refractive surgery. The study was undertaken among students attending the Organization of Professional Training, Vocational Training Institute (IEK) Thermis, Thessaloniki, Greece, by using a simple questionnaire. Participants in the study were 173 students (aged 19-24 years old) and all were contact lens wearers. This investigation was in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki and was approved by the local ethics committee. Written informed consent was obtained from all subjects.Ninety percent of the participants ordered their contact lenses following an examination by an ophthalmologist while 10% bought them following their optometrist's advice. In the study, 55% purchased their contact lenses from their eye doctor and 35% from an optometrist while 10% ordered them using an online alternative; 75% used corrective contact lenses and 13% used cosmetic ones while the rest used both; 65% used monthly contact lenses, 25% used yearly, and 10% used daily ones. All were using an appropriate antimicrobial/antibacterial solution and mentioned that they used the contact lens pair above the recommended wearing period of time; 95% reported that their quality of vision was better compared to wearing spectacles. All noted that they faced problems with wearing contact lenses sometime in the past (i.e., red eye, foreign body feeling, dacryorrhea, blurry vision) and had considered the option of refractive surgery. The main obstacles were the cost (78%), the fear of surgery-related complications (7%), the ease of access to an organized refractive surgery center (3%), and the trust in their eye-doctor's capabilities (2%), while the rest mentioned no inhibiting factors.Most contact lens wearers prefer their use for cosmetic reasons, convenience, and comfort [1,6] in agreement with our study. Knowledge about use patterns of contact lenses would prove useful to eye specialists. Roberts et al. found that awareness of the complications associated with the use of contact lenses was quite low among younger users [7]. Our study suggests that the contact lenses wearers' knowledge regarding the complications related to future refractive surgery was also significantly low. It was interesting to observe that the cost of the refractive operation was the major factor preventing them from undertaking it, compared to the fear of surgery...

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