Truth or myth: Fitting soft multifocal CLs takes too much chair time?

According to 2022 population data from the United Nations, the median age of those in the world’s developed regions is 41.4 years.¹ Similarly, the number of presbyopic patients needing vision correction is increasing, with an estimated 2.1 billion presbyopes globally in 2030.² 

Presbyopic patients have multiple options for vision correction, including single vision reading spectacles, bifocal or varifocal glasses, and various contact lens (CL) options. According to Sivardeen et al, who reviewed the correction modalities for 529 presbyopic patients in 2020, only 11.8% of the surveyed sample wore CLs (2.8% monovision, 2.8% multifocal (MF) CLs, 6.2% distance CLs).³  

Thus, if we consider the 88% of the presbyopic population wearing a spectacle correction or no correction at all, plus the 6.2% using presbyopic distance CLs with over-readers, it is clear that the numbers of people using CLs to address their presbyopia is very small (<6%). Similar findings have been reported by other groups.^{4, 5}