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Study reveals disparity between what contact lenses ECPs wear, what they prescribe
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A significant disparity exists between eye care providers’ preferred choice of contact lenses for their own wear versus lenses prescribed for their patients, according to a study from CooperVision.
The company reported in a press release that it surveyed 183 U.S. optometrists who wear 1-day contact lenses and found that 72% prefer a silicone hydrogel product for their own use, but prescribe the same material to only 33% of patients.
Fifty-eight percent of optometrists who wear 1-day contact lenses wear only silicone hydrogel material, avoiding other options entirely.
“When optometrists are overwhelmingly choosing the healthiest contact lens material for themselves, yet still prescribing it at a substantially lower rate for patients, we have to ask why,” Michele Andrews, OD, senior director of professional and academic affairs, North America, CooperVision, said in the release. “This new finding adds to our recent study on silicone hydrogel 1-day prescribing. It points to ECP misunderstandings about how patients perceive cost and comfort, leading to missed opportunities to recommend the best contact lens option.”
According to another CooperVision survey, 96% of ECPs prescribe hydrogel over silicone hydrogel because of the difference in cost. Seventy-four percent of U.S. consumers say they expect their eye care professional to recommend the healthiest option regardless of cost, and 82% say they are likely to follow the advice regardless of cost.