Profile of contact lens prescribing in GCC countries.

PURPOSE: This study aimed to report the pattern of contact lens prescribing from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. METHODS: Optometrists in the GCC region were contacted to participate in a web-based survey hosted on Qualtrics XM (Provo, Utah, USA). The survey methodology was adapted from the International Contact Lens Prescribing Consortium, and participants were asked to report their last five lens fits. It collected information on practitioner demographics (age, gender, nationality, qualification, country of practice, and number of years of experience), CL user demographics (age and gender) and on lens specific details such as lens type, lens design, lens material, replacement plan, and modality of lens wear. Descriptive statistics were used to analyse and report the data. RESULTS: This study reports 739 contact lens fits by 174 practitioners from six GCC countries. The average age of the patients was 29.72 ± 9.07 (Mean ± SD) years and 64 % of them were females. The majority (80.2 %) were fitted with soft contact lenses, with 59 % preferring silicone hydrogels, 20 % wearing them for cosmetic purposes and nearly half of them disposed of their lenses daily (55 %). Among the RGP lenses, 41 % were scleral lenses. This survey demonstrated a greater proportion of new lens fits (55 % vs. 37 %), disposable hydrogel lens use (21 % vs. 13 %), and a preference for cosmetic contact lenses (20 % vs. 4 %) compared to the international data. CONCLUSION: The pattern of CL prescriptions in the GCC region closely resembled the global trend. The survey observed a higher preference towards frequent replacement soft lenses, a greater proportion of silicone hydrogel lenses, a higher percentage of rigid lens fits, a greater affinity for cosmetic contact lenses, and a higher percentage of new fits. These trends suggest that contact lens prescription habits in the region are likely to continue evolving in the future.

Perceptions of Older People Regarding Their Vision and Incident Causation.

PURPOSE: It is widely known that visual impairment (VI) is a risk factor for falls, but patients or their eye care practitioners may not recognize other kinds of incidents as being problematic because of their vision. Consequently, older people with VI may have unmet needs for advice on how to carry out activities of daily living safely. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to understand whether older people with VI consider their vision as a causative factor of incidents they experience and their perceptions regarding the prevention of future incidents. If sample size permitted, a secondary aim was to evaluate whether quantitative findings supported their perceptions. METHODS: The study design was a prospective cohort study evaluating injurious and damaging incidents and related near misses using open questions in a written 2-weekly large-print diary with active follow-up over 8 weeks in older people (>60 years, n = 80) with and without VI. Baseline measures included habitual binocular visual acuity, contrast sensitivity, visual fields, 3-m walk test, and Short Form 12 physical and mental component scores. Participants' diary entries were coded. Factor analysis and binary logistic analysis were used to investigate whether baseline measures were predictive of incident occurrence. Risk and preventative factors identified were compared. RESULTS: Participants perceived that their vision was implicated in bump and fall incidents. Quantitative analysis indicated that contrast sensitivity and fitness were significant predictors of incident occurrence. Six vision-related and five non-vision-related causative factors were identified by participants as contributing factors. Participants frequently stated "don't know" when asked to identify solutions to prevent incident recurrence. CONCLUSIONS: Participants had unmet needs for advice in relation to incident prevention. It would be prudent for eye care practitioners to raise incident prevention in eye care consultations regardless of voiced patient concerns.