by Joel Harrison
14. May 2011 19:03
Eye care specialists have been warning against wearing contact lenses for longer than recommended, but the rate of complications is still high. Recently, a new report justifying the above-mentioned warnings has been published. In the report, Dr Kathy Dubleton and other researchers from the Centre for Contact Lens Research in Canada state that there is a significant association between failure to comply with contact lenses replacement schedules and complications related to contact lens wear.
The scientists analysed 501 surveys filled in by patients wearing silicone hydrogel contact lenses; the surveys were distributed at seven eye care practitioner’s offices and concerned contact lens wear and all problems related to contact lenses that had occurred in the preceding year. Approximately 50% of those who took part in the study wore bi-weekly and the other 50% wore monthly silicone hydrogel contact lenses.
As many as 67% of the respondents wore their lenses for longer than the manufacturers of their lenses recommended and 60% of them wore lenses for longer than their doctors recommended. The frequency of complications turned out to be much higher in those who did not comply with the recommendations (26% vs. 18%).
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