More BrandsA team comprising UK and Australian researchers has released the results of its long-term, multi-nation study into contact lens frequency of wear (FOW). According to the report published in the Eye & Contact Lens journal, FOW is affected by a multitude of demographic factors and factors related specifically to contact lenses. The data indicates that there is an overall trend towards lower FOW as a result of daily disposable lenses becoming increasingly popular.
The study stretched over five years from 2007 to 2011 and drew on data provided by contact lens fitters in about 40 countries. Through questionnaires completed every year between January and March, the researchers collected data on 74,510 soft lens fits and 9,014 rigid lens fits.
The analysis showed that average FOW was 5.9 days a week and the researchers established that rigid lens wear tended to be full time at seven days a week. In the case of soft daily disposable lenses, the data indicated bimodal distributions, with large and small peaks observed at two and seven days.
Comparison among countries showed significant variation in FOW. Greece came first with 6.8 days per week, while Kuwait was last with 5.1 days.
Soft lens FOW was found to be higher among younger patients, while women wear contact lenses more frequently than men with the respective figures being six days a week and 5.8 days a week. When it comes to design, FOW for presbyopes was 6.1 days a week versus 5.9 for patients prescribed toric or spherical lenses. FOW was higher for hydrogel peroxide systems than for multipurpose systems, at 6.4 and 6.2 days a week respectively.
