Study: Spectacle wearers liked wearing contacts while choosing glasses

CHICAGO – Patients who wore spectacles only reported positive experiences with frame selection while wearing temporary contact lenses, and many went on to schedule or receive a contact lens fit, according to a study presented at the American Academy of Optometry meeting.

Meredith Bishop, OD, MS, of Johnson & Johnson Vision Care, and colleagues reported in a poster that in five Midwest practices, the optometrists began with treating glasses-only patients as they normally do for the control period.

Then the providers transitioned to a test period, where they, “provided temporary contact lenses to patients looking for new glasses, then asked if they’d be interested in trying contact lens wear,” co-author Mike Mayers, OD, also of Johnson & Johnson Vision Care, told Primary Care Optometry News.

Of 205 patients who completed both phases, 63%, or 129, were willing to try contact lenses, Mayers said.

Forty percent wore spherical contact lenses, 19% wore toric, 35% wore multifocal and 5% wore monovision, Mayers said.

“They could see themselves and the frames better and spent about 20% more on eye wear,” he told PCON. They were also “more likely to purchase eye wear, 90% vs. 77%. And they were 2.5 times more likely to get contact lens fits.”

In addition, Mayers said more than nine out of 10 were very or extremely satisfied with the experience.

He noted that 60% of the patients were lapsed contact lens wearers, and 40% were new wearers. – by Nancy Hemphill, ELS, FAAO

Reference:

Bishop M, et al. Improving your eyeglass patients’ in-office experience with contact lenses. Presented at: American Academy of Optometry; Chicago; Oct. 10-14, 2017.

Disclosures: Bishop and Mayers are employed by Johnson & Johnson Vision Care.