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Prescribing rates for silicone hydrogel, disposable contacts increase
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Results from a 13-year survey of contact lens prescribing patterns in the U.S. have shown a decrease in the use of gas-permeable lenses and an increase in silicone hydrogel and daily disposable prescribing, according to a recent study.
Efron and colleagues reported in Optometry and Vision Science that they received 1,650 surveys from U.S. practitioners with details of 7,702 contact lens fits between 2002 and 2014, according to the study.
The mean age of the study subjects was 33.6 years, and 65.2% were female.
In addition to the trends in gas-permeable, silicone hydrogel and daily disposable prescribing, the researchers found a “high (but still suboptimal) use of toric soft lenses for correcting astigmatism, the preference of multifocal soft lenses vs. monovision for the correction of presbyopia, the fluctuating interest in extended-wear fitting and the extensive use of multipurpose soft lens care systems.”
They noted: “Contact lens prescribing in the future is likely to be more skewed toward daily disposable lenses and silicone hydrogel materials.”
Specifically, gas-permeable fits decreased during the survey period from 13% to 9.4%, and the proportion of soft lens fits decreased from 30% to 20%. Lenses consisting of silicone hydrogel material increased to 73% by 2010, while mid water content lenses decreased from 65% between 2002 and 2004 to 17% in 2007.
Among soft lens fits, toric lenses made up 25% to 30% of prescriptions, while multifocal soft lenses were prescribed in 12.3% of cases over monovision correction in 5% of cases, according to the study. The number of prescriptions for disposable soft lenses has also increased from 5.3% to 27.1% between 2002 and 2014.
The researchers noted that gas-permeable lenses were prescribed in 91.5% of cases for wearing 7 days per week, while daily disposable lenses were prescribed in 67% of cases; however, daily disposable lenses were prescribed more often if patients wore them for 4 days per week or less. – by Jeffrey Craven
Disclosure: The authors report no relevant financial disclosures.
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