Abstract
Abstract: :
Purpose:To study the role of dryness in discontinuation of lens wear and unscheduled lens removals in subjects wearing monthly and weekly extended wear (EW) lenses. Methods:In a year-long randomized controlled open-label clinical trial, 658 subjects were randomized to lotrafilcon A lenses (Focus® NIGHT&DAY, CIBA Vision) or etafilcon A lenses (n= 681, AcuVue, Johnson & Johnson). The lotrafilcon A group wore lenses up to 30 nights EW and etafilcon A wearers wore lenses up to 6 nights EW. Subjective symptoms were collected at all visits. Results:Among subjects who completed the year long trial, 19.8% of the silicone hydrogel wearers (n=483) reported symptoms of dryness compared with 24.2% of those wearing disposable lenses (n=579, p=0.093, Chi-square). For subjects who discontinued the study, 13.4% of the discontinued lotrafilcon A wearers (n=175) and 22.1% of the discontinued etafilcon A lens wearers (n=102) reported symptoms of dryness (p=0.042, Chi-square). When asked reasons for unscheduled overnight lens removals, etafilcon A wearers cited dryness as the reason for removal significantly more often, reporting 720 unscheduled removals due to dryness compared to 236 unscheduled removals due to dryness for lotrafilcon A wearers (p=0.02, Student's t-test). Conclusion:Symptoms of dryness play an important role in EW. These data show that symptoms of dryness are less frequent among wearers of lotrafilcon A lenses (monthly EW wearing schedule) compared with wearers of etafilcon A lenses (weekly EW wearing schedule). Subjects wearing lotrafilcon A lenses were also much less likely report dryness as the reason for discontinuing lens wear or for unscheduled lens removals compared to wearers of etafilcon A lenses.
Keywords: 367 contact lens • 376 cornea: tears/tear film/dry eye