Abstract
Purpose :
Daily disposable contact lenses (DDs) are now widely available in both silicone hydrogel (SH) and hydrogel (H) materials. The higher oxygen transmissibility of SH materials provides many benefits, but their higher modulus has been linked with reduced lens comfort compared to H lenses. This randomized, double-masked clinical trial assessed the short-term comfort of two DDs of differing modulus, yet similar water content (WC): a SH-DD (somofilcon A; clariti® 1 day; CooperVision; 0.50MPa modulus, 56% WC) and a H-DD (etafilcon A; 1-Day Acuvue® Moist®; Johnson & Johnson; 0.29MPa modulus, 57% WC).
Methods :
120 subjects wore the lenses contralaterally, over one day. Targeted recruitment meant that 60 subjects were habitual H-DD wearers (all adapted wearers of 1-Day Acuvue Moist), 60 were non-DD habitual wearers (adapted to various SH and H re-usable lenses). Subjects rated lens comfort on a 0-100 integer scale (100= cannot be felt) at insertion and then hourly until 8hrs. Of particular interest was the comfort at the beginning and end of the 8hr wear period and these data points were tested for equivalence. At the final visit subjects were asked for their lens preference, based on comfort.
Results :
Mean subjective comfort was not different between SH-DD and H-DD across the wear period (p>0.05), on insertion (87±14 SH-DD vs 89±14 H-DD; p>0.05) or after 8hrs (82±18 SH-DD vs 83±17 H-DD; p>0.05). Based on equivalency margins of ±5-points, the study lenses showed equivalent comfort at insertion (p=0.03) and at 8hrs (p=0.001). Both lenses exhibited a significant reduction in comfort over the 8hr period (both p<0.001). When subjects’ data was divided according to their habitual lens modality groups (60 H-DD wearers and 60 re-useable wearers), there were also no comfort differences between the study lenses, either across time, or at insertion and 8hrs (all p>0.05). Lens preference was not different between lenses at dispensing or at the final visit (both p>0.05).
Conclusions :
Initial and 8hr comfort were not compromised with the SH-DD compared to the H-DD, despite its higher modulus, and there was no difference in the lens preference distribution. The results suggest that lower comfort should not be anticipated when fitting SH-DDs of an appropriate design, thus allowing other material properties such as high oxygen permeability to be considered.
This is an abstract that was submitted for the 2018 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Honolulu, Hawaii, April 29 - May 3, 2018.