Attitude and perception of spectacle wearers towards contact lens wear

ABSTRACT

Aim: To investigate the attitude and perception of spectacle wearers towards contact lens wear. Method: A cross-sectional questionnaire was distributed from the waiting rooms of licensed Optometry Offices to spectacle-wearing participants over 18 years of age with no history of contact lens wear and those who previously wore contact lenses. The data collected on the barriers, attitude, awareness, and willingness of the spectacle wearers towards contact lens wear was statistically analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences Computer Software with the significance level set to a p-value of 5%. Results: Of the 119 participants, the majority were females (63.0%), had secondary education (47.1%), were of East Indian descent (59.7%) and were over 50 years (29.4%). Only 40 spectacle wearers indicated a history of previously wearing contact lenses. The main barriers for non-CL wearers were reportedly comfort of spectacles (40.5%), the perception that contact lenses are uncomfortable (38.0%) and difficult to use (36.7%) whereas for previous CL wearers it was mainly discomfort (57.5%). The main source of information were from eye-care practitioners (58.0%) and was only significantly associated with age (P=0.023). There was a greater willingness to retry contact lenses among previous CL wearers (62.5%) than non-CL wearers (41.8%). Conclusion: There was a positive attitude and perception among previous contact lens wearers than those who have never worn contact lenses. There is a need for increased health education by eye-care practitioners and other delivery methods to remove misconceptions and perpetuate the awareness of contact lenses and their benefits to allow for an increase in contact lens usage (AU)