With as many advancements as there are with contact lenses, most eye care practitioners still wish their patients were fully compliant. Patients who are not compliant can put themselves at risk for conditions such as corneal infections.
How can eye care practitioners help improve patient compliance?
First, eye care practitioners should think about signs that patients may not be compliant. The Review of Optometry recommends that eye care practitioners ask patients the following questions in order to assess patient compliance:
- What contact lens solution do you use? This question allows eye care practitioners to gauge how often the patient is using their solution. If a patient can’t answer this question, then the patient may need more education about the importance of cleaning and storing contact lenses in solution.
- How often do you sleep in your lenses? Most patients have slept in their contact lenses from time to time. This question allows eye care practitioners to decide how often patients do this in order to recommend specific modalities. For example, a monthly contact lens with the capability of extended wear may be a good recommendation for patients who sleep in their lenses more often.
- Can you show me your contact lens case? If an eye care practitioner can see the condition of the wearer’s case, it will give the eye care practitioner an idea about typical routine of the patient. If a contact lens case is dirty or in poor condition, then the eye care practitioner may want to spend more time discussing compliance with the patient.
- Can you show me your typical cleaning and removal routine? Asking patients to show how they care for their lenses on a daily basis can reveal a lot about compliance. For example, some eye care practitioners will find that some patients simply remove lenses without cleaning them and store them in old solution!
Just taking the time to ask patients some open ended questions can help guide eye care practitioners to give the right recommendations in order to ensure patient compliance. Make sure to visit the On Eye blog for our recommendations in order to ensure patients compliance coming soon!