Eye care professionals' perceptions of the benefits of daily disposable silicone hydrogel contact lenses

Purpose: To gain a better understanding of eye care professionals' (ECPs) perceptions regarding the benefits of silicone hydrogel (SiH) daily disposable contact lenses (DDCL), particularly with respect to health, comfort and patient satisfaction. Methods: A survey was conducted with 300 ECPs in the United States, United Kingdom and Japan during November 2017. The survey comprised 34 statements relating to SiH DDCLs, to which the ECPs provided their level of agreement using a 6 point Likert scale. A minimum of 70% agreement was set to define majority agreement. Categories of statements included Health, Comfort, Patient Experience, and Standard of Care. Results: ECPs rated the highest levels of agreement to perceptions within the Patient Experiences and Health categories. The six statements receiving the highest ratings were Silicone hydrogel 1 day lenses satisfy today's patients' demanding lifestyles (93% agreement); Silicone hydrogel 1 day lenses are the best choice to safeguard my patients' eye health related to contact lens wear (92%); Silicone hydrogel 1 day lenses provide the best benefits to my patients (92%); Silicone hydrogel 1 day lenses provide better long term eye health for my patients than hydrogel 1 day lenses (91%); Silicone hydrogel is the healthiest lens material for my daily disposable patients (90%); and Silicone hydrogel 1 day lenses provide a better wearing experience for my patients than hydrogel 1 day lenses (90%). Conclusion: ECPs perceive that SiH DDCLs offer long-term eye health and comfort for the patient and although the ECPs surveyed would not necessarily prescribe SiH DDCLs to all their patients, they would prescribe them to most of their patients. The results support the premise that while ECPs consider SiH 1 day contact lenses as the current standard of care; the principal barrier continues to be the perceived higher cost of these lenses.