ask the labs
Contact Lenses for the Ages
Karlen McLean, ABOC, NCLC
KID CONSIDERATIONS
Q What are some key opportunities for fitting and dispensing contact lenses for kids?
A Contact lenses provide significant benefits to children beyond just vision correction. According to the Adolescent and Child Health Initiative to Encourage Vision Empowerment study, compared to glasses, contacts improve visionrelated quality of life in children, especially in appearance and athletics.
Making parents aware of the opportunity is a first step. Sports, dance, or other activities are a motivating factor, and daily disposable lenses are a great option for young patients who may want to wear contacts on a part-time basis for sports, and they help erase parents' fears about adherence to cleaning regimens. Satisfying visual and quality-of-life needs of children also helps drive referrals to your practice.
—Colleen M. Riley, OD, vice president, professional development, Vistakon
PRESBYOPIC PRESENTATIONS
Q When is it best to consider multifocal contact lenses?
A While some ECPs move to a multifocal contact lens only when monovision fails, more are finding that a multifocal is the lens of choice for most presbyopic contact lens wearers.
For the emerging presbyope, where add demand is low, multifocal lenses can provide superior vision to monovision, and as the patient ages, the transition to higher-add multifocal lenses is a smooth one.
Clinical studies show that, compared with monovision, multifocal lenses provide better vision for tasks like computer use and driving. Patients rate multifocal lenses higher for their ability to change focus from near to far and distances in between. Multifocal contact lenses also don't interfere with binocular vision.
—Peter Bergenske, OD, FAAO, director professional and clinical support, CIBA Vision
20s-30s TRENDING | |
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Q What are the current contact lens wearing trends for those in their twenties and thirties? A Recent Health Products Research survey data shows that 91 percent of patients in their 20s and 30s are wearing planned replacement contact lenses versus about eight percent using daily disposable lenses. Additional studies have shown that monthly replacement or daily disposable modalities are better for compliance versus two-week replacement (Dumbleton, 2010). About 30 percent of patients in this age group wear contacts for correcting astigmatism, with 41 percent reported in the 2009 Gallup survey to have astigmatism, indicating that many patients or practitioners may not be aware of or be using contacts for astigmatism to optimally correct vision. This age group demands crisp vision in all situations with no performance compromises. —Mohinder Merchea, director of medical affairs, North America, Bausch + Lomb |
If you have a question you'd like to have answered in Ask the Labs, send it to Karlen McLean. Email: karlen.mclean@wolterskluwer.com. Facebook: Facebook.com/Eyecarebusiness. An archive of past Ask the Labs columns can be found on the Eyecare Business website: EyecareBusiness.com.