The power behind the lens

Worldwide, eye care professionals (ECPs) are seeing a growing number of patients in their early to mid-40s and older who would benefit from presbyopic vision correction; patients who need simultaneous correction for near, intermediate, and distance vision. One challenge in this patient population is the contact lens dropout rate. There is increased dropout from contact lenses after 45 years of age, despite a growing vision-corrected population and increasing interest in contact lenses (Figure 1).1 As the presbyopic population increases, so too does the need for ECPs to understand advances in contact lens optics and their patients’ ever-changing vision needs.

Recently, a study was completed in the US and France to examine ECP and patient experiences with presbyopia to better understand patients’ vision needs.2 The study employed a web survey that was administered to 404 US and 301 French patients. The survey captured patient demographics and asked about lens use satisfaction, the frequency and impact of symptoms experienced with contact lens use, and an assessment of the patient’s daily vision needs. A separate web survey was also administered to 75 US ECPs, and 75 French ECPs that asked each ECP to discuss the challenges and success rates of fitting presbyopic patients.