A hard-hitting report on the state of European sight, claiming many people’s daily lives are impaired by an ignorance of presbyopia, aims to attract national newspaper headlines later this month.
It reveals that opportunities across the continent to sell eyewear to the over-40s could be more attractive than currently thought, with many in the UK and elsewhere still unaware of the vision correction options available.
In a rare pan-European study of people’s attitudes to eye care and vision, researchers have found a substantial need by patients not only for products to improve their sight, but for professional advice and care.
Discussion on the growth of the ageing population is well known, but the ensuing health difficulties have been less documented.
According to the Sight over forty report, a lack of awareness of the build-up of sight problems has led to huge numbers unable to do the simplest tasks, such as women applying make-up and men shaving, the research will state.
More worrying, it claims that four out of five of those aged over 40 struggle to read important text on medicine containers and food labels.
The report sampled over 1,400 people aged over 40 from seven wealthy European countries, including the UK, and found that many had difficulty doing important financial tasks, such as signing credit card receipts, leaving the poorly sighted open to fraud.
Even everyday tasks such as writing cheques, reading mobile phone messages or checking the time proved difficult to a significant proportion of the sample.
Industrialists should be concerned too the report examined the impact of presbyopia on work productivity and found 16 per cent of respondents admitted the condition slowed them down at the office or factory, with a further 13 per cent revealing that they found work more stressful as a result of the problem.
KNOWLEDGE GAP
The survey points to a lack of knowledge as a cause of the problem as seven out of 10 of those surveyed were unaware of the term ‘presbyopia’, with only 59 per cent aware of its symptoms.
Commissioned by Bausch & Lomb currently advertising its SofLens multifocal contact lens – the survey also calculated that nearly a third (32 per cent) of over-40s in the UK do not have regular eye tests, and that 4 per cent have never had one.
It also highlights the differences in attitude towards eye care across Europe, with two in three British people having their eyes tested every two to three years compared to other European countries, such as France, where 53 per cent of people fail to have a regular eye test.
The survey also delved into people’s attitudes to vision correction, and found that 50 per cent of women in their 40s surveyed felt that contact lenses would have ‘a positive impact on their quality of life’ and 41 per cent of respondents said they would happily try multifocal lenses if their eye care practitioner recommended them. Overall, 22 per cent of all respondents claim their contact lenses would be their first choice of vision care solution.
Interestingly, 16 per cent of the sample were found buying vision correction products from outlets such as supermarkets and, according to Bausch & Lomb, ‘potentially missing out on important advice and support from eye care professionals’.
Bausch & Lomb’s study has also suggested 38 per cent of those questioned find reading glasses uncomfortable to wear and aesthetically unappealing.
Dr Philip Morgan, Eurolens research manager at the University of Manchester, said: ‘For the person with normal vision throughout life before the age of 40, the onset of presbyopia can be a particularly worrying time. Great relief is often experienced when this sort of visual deterioration is shown not to be an eye disease, but an unavoidable change in the eye relating to “getting older”.
‘Eye care practitioners can help patients prepare for the age-related vision changes by alerting them in advance as to what they can expect. By gaining a better understanding of presbyopia and the solutions available, people can be reassured that they are experiencing a natural process without it impacting on daily life.’
For optical businesses wishing to invest on the continent, the research highlights some pertinent facts. In the UK the average price consumers pay for their most recent pair of spectacles is equivalent to €364.90 (£247.15), whereas in Italy it is as little as €219.90, and in France as much as €426.40.
Significantly, while 32 per cent of over-40s in Britain infrequently (defined as ‘every three years’) or ‘never’ have eye tests, elsewhere the non-attendance is much greater. It rises to 35 per cent in Spain, 40 per cent in Germany, 47 per cent in the Netherlands and a whopping 68 per cent in Sweden.
Sight over forty was conducted from June 1-17 2005 in Britain, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and Sweden.