Comment: Small measure of compliance

It's not a shock to hear that contact lens wearers cut the occasional corner with lens care and wear, but to find out that 98 per cent of all wearers are not fully compliant is staggering.

This is one finding of a major cross-European study to be presented this weekend at the BCLA conference and supported by Bausch & Lomb. The overall results show that 89 per cent of wearers do not rub and rinse before insertion and 65 per cent occasionally sleep in lenses not designed for extended wear.

Seventy-seven per cent wear every pair of lenses beyond the recommended time, although this drops to 13 per cent in the UK alone. While the UK may be better in this aspect, it was less compliant than the rest of Europe in washing hands before putting in the lenses and had the highest rate for never cleaning lens cases.