Daily silicone hydrogel wearers find success with disposable hydrogels

CHICAGO – Subjects who typically wear reusable multifocal silicone hydrogels were more satisfied after 4 weeks of wearing a daily disposable multifocal hydrogel, according to a study presented here at the American Academy of Optometry meeting.

Thirty-nine silicone hydrogel contact lens wearers, with a mean age of 54.5 years, wore their habitual lenses for at least 6 hours, after which researchers took baseline measurements. The subjects were then switched to 1-Day Acuvue Moist Multifocal daily disposable hydrogel contact lenses made of etafilcon A for 28 days, according to the poster.

Lead investigator Amir M. Moezzi, MSc, OD, of the Centre for Contact Lens research at the School of Optometry & Vision Science, University of Waterloo, told Primary Care Optometry News that the subjects were evaluated for hyperemia and corneal thickness as well as binocular distance and near logMAR visual acuity at each visit.

“There were no clinically significant differences in distance visual acuity or any of the study physiological outcomes between habitual silicone hydrogel contact lenses at baseline and the etafilcon A daily disposables at 4 weeks,” according to the poster.

In addition, the researchers indicated that 82.7% of subjects reported satisfaction with overall vision quality with the etafilcon A lens compared to 53.8% at baseline, and 82.1% of subjects reported that the etafilcon lenses were comfortable at the end of the day, compared to 69.3% at baseline.

The switch to the etafilcon A lenses resulted in insignificant differences in corneal thickness and limbal and bulbar hyperemia, according to the poster.

The researchers noted that “the equivalency may have been due to the daily disposable modality. The lack of exposure to a care system and storage case may have impacted the bulbar and limbal redness and corneal staining results.”

“Redness is the most important measurement,” Moezzi told PCON. “Thickness is the supporting measurement. With daily wear you get more swelling in the peripheral cornea, and it’s linked to redness.”

Moezzi also said that while there was no difference in distance vision at the two visits, the near vision was better with the etafilcon A daily disposables, perhaps due to less dryness.

He stressed the need for a longer study, but, overall, “It was easy to fit, and people were happy.” – by Nancy Hemphill, ELS, FAAO

Reference:

Moezzi A, et al. Evaluation of clinical success with etafilcon A multifocal daily disposable lenses. Presented at: American Academy of Optometry; Chicago; Oct. 10-14, 2017.

Disclosure: Moezzi is employed by the Centre for Contact Lens Research. The study was supported by Johnson & Johnson Vision Care.