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.
  More +
• 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:
  • Article
  • soft contact lenses
  • gas permeable lenses
  • Acanthamoeba
  • keratitis
  • swimming
  • showering
  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Contact Lens Solutions
  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
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/46675/cdc_46675_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 337.38 KB]
• Collection(s):
  CDC Public Access
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha256:d19e264b36707ed443257f21984c3c7ba738ff1b28f7e9b9ba628bcda6b7985f