Quarter of a century of contact lens prescribing trends in the United Kingdom (1996 – 2020)

Abstract

To document contact lens prescribing trends in the United Kingdom over the past quarter of a century. Methods: An annual survey of contact lens prescribing was conducted each year from 1996 to 2020, inclusive, by asking a random selection of optometrists and contact lens opticians to provide information relating to 10 consecutive contact lens fits between January and March. Results: Over the 25 year survey period, 2,671 practitioners returned survey forms, reporting a total of 25,575 contact lens fits. The mean (± standard deviation) age of lens wearers was 35 ± 15 years, of which 64 % were female. Over the survey period, rigid lens new fits decreased from 22 % to 2%. The prescribing of silicone hydrogel lenses has increased steadily since their introduction towards the end of the 1990s, and now represent 80 % of soft lens fits. Soft toric lens prescribing has gradually increased to 47 % -a value at which astigmatism ≥ 0.75DC is theoretically corrected in all contact lens wearers. Daily disposable prescribing increased steadily over the survey period and now represents 63 % of lenses prescribed. Extended wear fits remain at very low levels, except for some prescribing for overnight orthokeratology. Multi-purpose lens care solutions are ubiquitous; peroxide and other systems are now seldom prescribed. Rigid lenses and monthly replacement soft lenses are predominantly worn on a full time basis, whereas daily disposable soft lenses are mainly worn part time. Conclusions: This report documents the evolution of contact lens fitting in the United Kingdom over the past 25 years. The most likely lens fit is a spherical design silicone hydrogel daily disposable contact lens prescribed for a 35 year old female and worn on a part-time basis.

Comparative Evaluation of Pseudomonas aeruginosa Adhesion to a Poly-(2-Methacryloyloxyethyl Phosphorylcholine)-Modified Silicone Hydrogel Contact Lens

“…The use of daily disposable contact lenses rose from 28% of contact lens users in 1998 to 63% of users as of 2022 [ 59 ]. This change in use habits has come at the expense of monthly contact lenses, such as those studied here.…”

All soft contact lenses are not created equal

“…These data point to a high probability of contact lenses being used on an overnight wear basis even though overnight wear is associated with higher levels of adverse events. The risks associated with overnight wear are the main reason [147] that prescriptions for overnight wear soft lenses has remained low [149,150].…”

“…There is little evidence of visual performance being related to frequency of lens replacement. From a rather theoretical and historical standpoint, the development of extreme levels of deposition of the contact lens surface over time has been reported to diminish visual acuity [49]; however, such surface changes are rarely seen now as almost all soft lenses are prescribed to be replaced monthly or more frequently [150,165]. Interestingly, one report has demonstrated better 'visual discrimination' with reusable lenses compared to daily disposable lenses, which was attributed to the surface action of the wetting agents in the solutions in which the reusable lenses were stored [166].…”

Contact lens prescribing trends in the UK hospital eye service

“…Contact lenses could be described as an elective product since most patients elect to wear conventional contact lenses, as an alternative method of correcting their refractive error, instead of spectacle lenses [1,2]. Routine contact lens practice is a highly commercial arena where information on the types of contact lenses that are most commonly prescribed by practitioners is useful in marketable terms [3]. The literature is rife with papers describing prescribing patterns in a certain country or trends over many years [4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11].…”