Findings Support Use of Toric Contact Lenses to Correct All Patients
with ≥0.75 DC of Astigmatism
SAN RAMON, Calif., January 28, 2021—A first-of-its kind investigation has linked subjective comfort and subjective vision quality in the use of toric soft contact lenses.1 Application of the findings by eye care professionals have the potential to decrease patient dropouts across the contact lens category.
The Association of Comfort and Vision in Soft Toric Contact Lens Wear has been accepted for publication in the coming weeks by Contact Lens and Anterior Eye, the peer reviewed journal of the British Contact Lens Association. The paper is now available in press at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clae.2020.11.007.
A prospective, crossover, randomized, subject-masked research study had habitual soft contact lenses wearers sequentially use three types of daily disposable toric lenses over three weeks. Biomicroscopy scores, fit, visual acuity, subjective vision quality and subjective ocular surface comfort were recorded at dispensing and follow-up visits. While differences in visual acuity were not statistically significant, greater comfort scores were observed with greater subjective vision quality scores. This suggests that symptoms of ocular discomfort may be more intense if there is also perceived visual compromise in daily disposable soft toric lenses.
“Some eye care professionals choose to fit spherical contact lenses for lower yet significant amounts of astigmatism, believing there’s little difference for the wearer,” said Gary Orsborn, OD, Vice President of Global Professional, Medical & Clinical Affairs for CooperVision and a paper co-author. “Insights from this analysis help confirm a compelling reason to fit toric soft contact lenses for all patients with 0.75 DC or more of astigmatism. Discomfort is a leading cause of drop out, so increased use of toric designs with astigmats could increase retention, patient satisfaction and practice success.”
The authors note that despite other advances in the field, contact lens discomfort remains a major unresolved issue, with rates of discontinuation ranging from 12 to 51 percent.2,3,4,5,6 Recognizing significant efforts have been made to understand the comfort-related effects of physical lens and ocular surface characteristics, they sought to consider other possibilities for patient behavior. To the authors’ knowledge, no other published work has investigated the association between subjective vision quality and comfort in toric soft contact lenses.
“The outcomes are clear and simple to implement. After paying close attention to toric lens fitting parameters, practitioners should routinely and proactively assess the level of visual satisfaction by wearers while also inquiring about their comfort. These subjective measures are more likely to indicate fitting success and predict continuation of wear compared to visual acuity alone,” said Carole Maldonado-Codina, the paper’s first author, the study’s principal investigator, and Associate Director of Eurolens Research at The University of Manchester.
The study was funded by CooperVision. The company offers a broad range of toric soft contact lens brands used by eye care professionals worldwide.
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About CooperVision
CooperVision, a division of CooperCompanies (NYSE:COO), is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of contact lenses. The company produces a full array of daily disposable, two-week and monthly soft contact lenses that feature advanced materials and optics, and premium rigid gas permeable lenses for orthokeratology and scleral designs. CooperVision has a strong heritage of addressing the toughest vision challenges such as astigmatism, presbyopia, childhood myopia, and highly irregular corneas; and offers the most complete portfolio of spherical, toric and multifocal products available. Through a combination of innovative products and focused practitioner support, the company brings a refreshing perspective to the marketplace, creating real advantages for customers and wearers. For more information, visit www.coopervision.com.
About CooperCompanies
CooperCompanies ("Cooper") is a global medical device company publicly traded on the NYSE (NYSE:COO). Cooper operates through two business units, CooperVision and CooperSurgical. CooperVision brings a refreshing perspective on vision care with a commitment to developing a wide range of high-quality products for contact lens wearers and providing focused practitioner support. CooperSurgical is committed to advancing the health of women, babies and families with its diversified portfolio of products and services focusing on medical devices and fertility & genomics. Headquartered in San Ramon, Calif., Cooper has a workforce of more than 12,000 with products sold in over 100 countries. For more information, please visit www.coopercos.com.
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1 Maldanado-Codina C et al. The Association of Comfort and Vision in Soft Toric Contact Lens Wear. Cont Lens Anterior Eye. In press. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clae.2020.11.007
2 Pritchard N, Fonn D, Brazeau D. Discontinuation of contact lens wear: a survey. Int Contact Lens Clin 1999;26:157–62.
3 Dumbleton K, Woods CA, Jones LW, Fonn D. The impact of contemporary contact lenses on contact lens discontinuation. Eye Contact Lens 2013;39:93–9.
4 Richdale K, Sinnott LT, Skadahl E, Nichols JJ. Frequency of and factors associated with contact lens dissatisfaction and discontinuation. Cornea 2007;26:168–74.
5 Rumpakis J. New data on contact Lens dropouts: an international perspective. Rev Optom 2010;147:37–40.
6 Weed K, Fonn D, Potvin R. Discontinuation of contact lens wear. Optom Vis Sci 1993;70:140.