Water Exposure is a Common Risk Behavior among Soft and Gas Permeable Contact Lens Wearers

Details

• Alternative Title:
  Cornea
• Personal Author:
  Zimmerman, Aaron B. ; Richdale, Kathryn ; Mitchell, G. Lynn ; Kinoshita, Beth T. ; Lam, Dawn Y. ; Wagner, Heidi ; Sorbara, Luigina ; Chalmers, Robin L. ; Collier, Sarah A. ; Cope, Jennifer R. ; Rao, Maya M. ; Beach, Michael J. ; Yoder, Jonathan S.
• Description:
  Purpose
  
  To understand soft contact lens (SCL) and gas permeable lens (GP) wearers’ behaviors and knowledge regarding exposure of lenses to water.
  
  Methods
  
  The Contact Lens Risk Survey (CLRS) and health behavior questions were completed online by a convenience sample of 1,056 SCL and 85 GP wearers age 20–76 years. Participants were asked about exposing their lenses to water and their understanding of risks associated with these behaviors. Chi-square analyses examined relationships between patient behaviors and perceptions.
  
  Results
  
  GP wearers were more likely than SCL wearers to ever rinse or store lenses in water (rinsing: 91% GP, 31% SCL, p<0.001; storing: 33% GP, 15% SCL p<0.001). Among SCL wearers, males were more likely to store (24% vs 13%, p=0.003) or rinse (41% vs 29%, p=0.012) their lenses in water. Showering while wearing lenses was more common in SCL wearers (86%) than GP wearers (67%) (p<0.0001). Swimming while wearing lenses was reported by 62% of SCL wearers and 48% of GP wearers (p=0.027). Wearers who rinsed (SCL; p<0.0001, GP; p=0.11) or stored lenses in water (SCL; p<0.0001, GP p=0.007) reported this behavior had little or no effect on their infection risk, compared with those that did not. Both SCL (p<0.0001) and GP wearers (p<0.0001) perceived that distilled water was safer than tap water for storing or rinsing lenses.
  
  Conclusion
  
  Despite previously published evidence of Acanthamoeba keratitis’ association with water exposure, most SCL, and nearly all GP wearers regularly expose their lenses to water, with many unaware of the risk.
  
  
• Subjects:
  Acanthamoeba Adult Aged Article Contact Lenses Contact Lenses, Hydrophilic Contact Lens Solutions Eye Infections Female Gas Permeable Lenses Health Behavior Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice Humans Keratitis Male Middle Aged Patients Risk-Taking Showering Soft Contact Lenses Surveys And Questionnaires Swimming Water Young Adult

  More +
• Source:
  Cornea. 36(8):995-1001.
• Pubmed ID:
  28410356
• Pubmed Central ID:
  PMC5499971
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• Funding:
  CC999999/Intramural CDC HHS/United States
• Volume:
  36
• Issue:
  8
• Collection(s):
  CDC Public Access
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha256:d19e264b36707ed443257f21984c3c7ba738ff1b28f7e9b9ba628bcda6b7985f
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/46675/cdc_46675_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 337.38 KB ]