A Market Survey of Contact Lens Prescribing Trend in Malaysia in Year 2014 LIAN Choy Yi BOptom, CHIA Jho Yan BOptom, MHSC (Clin Optom)** **SEGi University, No, 9, Jalan Teknologi, Kota Damansara, PJU 5, 47810 Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia. Email:
[email protected]
INTRODUCTION Contact lens use gained popularity of 140 million contact lens wearer worldwide and contact lens wearer comprise of 6 – 7% of the population in Malaysia (Stapleton et al. 2007; Mohidin & Tee 2009) . Benefits of contact lens wear include better appearance, improved visual performance, practicality and broader field of view (Agarwal et al. 2002). The outcome of this study provides a current picture of the Malaysian contact lens market prescribing trend which would be beneficial for the contact lens manufacturing company in planning their marketing strategy. This survey was conducted as part of the International Contact Lens Prescribing Trend survey conducted by Eurolens Research UK for year 2014.
METHODOLOGY The questionnaire was obtained from the Eurolens Research UK to study the fitting trends for the contact lens market.
The questionnaire was randomly sent to the registered opticians and optometrists selected from the registered optical practitioners’ list of Malaysia Optical Council (MOC) who were practicing in optical practice.
All forms regardless whether 10 entries were completed were returned within the stipulated period given.
Data for each lens fitted was categorized in demographic data, lens material, designs of lenses, lens modality and number of days wore per week and care system prescribed.
RESULTS & DISCUSSIONS A total of 217 questionnaires had been sent out and 119 were returned representing a return rate of 54.8%. Seventy seven respondents were optometrists and 42 were opticians. The responding practitioners have been qualified and fitted lenses for (mean ± SD) 13.2 ± 9.3 years with a range of 1 to 38 years. A total data of 1069 patient fittings were obtained but 46 were incomplete entries. Patients were aged 29.5 ± 10.6 years with a range of 7 to 69 years. Those recorded were 803 fits (75%) being female and 268 fits (25%) being male. Total rigid gas permeable lenses fitted were 6.8% while majority of 93.2% were fitted with soft lenses. Total CL prescribed: 27.2% new fits and 68.9% of refits in Figure 1. Figure 2: Percentage of soft lenses prescribed
100 90
Low water content 11%
80 70
The questionnaire was sent by various ways including email, postal mail, online form and hand delivering.
Practitioners were given a period of time to record details of the recent 10 patients fitted with contact lenses in their practice before returning the questionnaire forms.
60 50 40 30
New fit
20
Silicone Hydrogel 44%
Refit
10 0 Soft lenses
RESULTS & DISCUSSIONS
Rigid lenses
Figure 1: Proportion of lens type fitted for new wearers and existing wearers
High water content 7%
Moderat e water content 38%
• SiHy lens prescription (44%) reported in this survey was higher than previous Soft contact lenses prescribed: SiHy lenses (44%), moderate water content reports. Malaysians preferred SiHy contact lenses over moderate water lenses (38%), and low water content lenses (11%) (refer Figure 2). content hydrogel soft lens which was reported 5 years ago (Morgan et al 2008; Most prescribed replacement frequency: monthly replacement. Mohidin& Tee 2009). Most prescribed solution: Multipurpose solutions; our data showed that the • Malaysians preferred monthly disposable contact lenses, which is in peroxide solution prescription was 7%. agreement with reports from 2 years ago and the global prescribing trend (44%) (Bhandari et al. 2012; Morgan et al 2014). COMPARISON BETWEEN THE OPTOMETRISTS & OPTICIANS • Daily disposable lenses was seen to be fitted more on the new wearers (27%) Silicone hydrogel lenses were discovered to be fitted by optometrist more & than to the existing wearers (22%). This preference may be due to the absence most opticians prescribed moderate water content contact lenses (Refer Figure of a need in teaching patients about lens maintenance and convenience 3). (Efron, et al. 2013). 47 50 43 39 • Multipurpose solution was found to be prescribed more (93%) than other 36 40 solutions in Malaysia. This findings is in agreement with the data of 2009 and 30 20 the data worldwide in 2014 (85%) (Mohidin & Tee 2009, Morgan et al 2014). 12 10 Figure 3: Comparison 7 6 10 • Optometrists prescribed SiHy lenses in a greater amount than opticians in of lenses prescribed 0 Malaysia. Apart from the benefits that the SiHy lens offered, optometrist could by the optometrists & Low water Moderate High water Silicone have a better understanding of its advantages and the importance of these the opticians. content water content hydrogel advantages to their patients. content • Mohidin& Tee (2009) have found that 33% of the optometrists in Malaysia Optician Optometrist recommended the hydrogen peroxide to their patients. This amount is higher Opticians prescribed more monthly lenses while the optometrist prescribed than our study which had only reported 7%. This may be contributed by the more daily lenses. Our survey results also revealed that the hydrogen peroxide inclusion of opticians & the preference to a more convenient option. system was mainly prescribed by the optometrists.
CONCLUSION Malaysian prescribers preferred soft contact lenses, monthly disposable lenses, and multipurpose care system. This study provided a clearer picture on the actual prescribing trend in Malaysia due to the extensiveness of practitioners involved (inclusion of opticians & also practitioners from East Malaysia). Updates in contact lens market were mandatory to better prepare manufacturers and practitioners in planning the future of business marketing strategies in optical practice.
REFERENCES 1. Agarwal, S., Agarwal, A., Buratto, L., et. al. (2002).Text of Ophthalmology.(1sted). Therapeutics of Contact Lens Care System. Jaypee Brothers Medical Publishers. 2. Bhandari, M., & Hung, P. (2012). Habits of Contact Lens Wearers Toward Lens Care in Malaysia. Medical Journal Malaysia. 67(3), 274277. 3. Efron, N., Morgan, P., & Woods, C. (2013).An international survey of daily disposable contact lens prescribing. Clinical and Experimental Optometry, (96)1, 58–64. 4. Stapleton, F., Dart, J., & Minassian, D. (2007). Risks factors with contact lens related suppurative keratitis. The Contact Lens Association of Ophthalmologist Journal 19(4), 204-210. 5. Mohidin, N., & Tee, L.F. (2009).A survey of optometric contact lens prescribing in Malaysia. Jurnal Sains Kesihatan Malaysia, 7(2), 59 – 72. 6. Morgan, P., Efron, N., & Woods, C. (2012). Contact Lens Prescribing: USA vs. the World. [online] Review of Cornea and Contact Lenses.[Accessed 15 November 2014]. 7. Morgan, P., Woods, C., Tranoudis, T., Helland, M., et. al. (2014).International contact lens prescribing in 2013. [online]. Contact lens spectrum.[Accessed 24 Nov 2014].
A PILOT STUDY: THE QUALITY OF LIFE (QoL) WITH MULTIFOCAL CONTACT LENS WEAR KUAN Chee Yee BOptom, CHAN Khai Theng BOptom, CHIA Jho Yan BOptom, MHSc (Clin Optom)** **SEGi University, No, 9, Jalan Teknologi, Kota Damansara, PJU 5, 47810 Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia. Email:
[email protected]
Introduction • The demand of multifocal soft contact lenses in Malaysia is low. • This may due to the design of the multifocal soft contact lenses that may not be suitable for the presbyopic Malaysians, difficulty in adapting to the lens design, contact lens wear discomfort among the presbyopic or avoidance of the local optometrist practitioners in recommending the contact lens type due to the long chair time. • This study investigated the quality of life (QoL) and the comfort of lens wear in multifocal contact lenses among presbyopes. • Multifocal contact lens provides a simultaneous vision (distance & near) to the retina at the same time for presbyopic patients.
Methodology Answer the quality of life impact of refractive correction (QIRC) questionnaire (Pesudovs et al., 2004) based on their habitual optical correction as a baseline.
Subjects undergone a comprehensive eye examination at SEGi EyeCare to determine whether the subject met the inclusion criteria.
CL fitting for multifocal soft contact lenses (Iotrafilcon B).
Wear CL for at least 5 days per week for more than 5 hours.
2 week review: QoL questionnaire with multifocal contact lenses.
Comparison of QoL score of habitual correction with QoL of contact lenses.
Results & Discussions Eleven subjects (22 eyes) were recruited consisting of 1 male subject and 10 female subjects. These subjects recruited consist of 9 spectacles wearers and 2 contact lens wearers. Subjects’ data were summarized in the table below. The mean age of the subjects were 50.18 ± 5.56 years, the age ranged from 42 to 57 years old. Present Rx Name
Age
Occupation
Gender
Daily Task
Habitual correction
Near ADD Sph RE
Sph LE
Cyl RE Cyl LE
AW
47
Marketing Executive
Female
Intermediate and distance
SV contact lenses
-5.50
-7.00
-0.75
-0.25
1.50
CPY
43
Lecturer
Female
Near and intermediate
PALs spectacles
-2.25
-2.50
-0.75
-0.75
1.50
EPH
51
Housewife
Female
Near and intermediate
Reading glasses
-0.50
-0.25
0.00
0.00
2.00
IC
44
Deputy Registrar
Female
Mixture
PALs spectacles
-7.00
-6.00
-0.25
-0.50
1.50
LSK
54
Housewife
Female
Near and intermediate
PALs spectacles
-2.00
-2.25
0.00
0.00
2.25
PSK
57
Housewife
Female
Near
PALs spectacles
0.75
0.75
-0.25
0.00
2.50
QAK
57
Housewife
Female
Near and intermediate
Reading glasses
-0.75
-0.75
-0.25
-0.50
2.75
SN
56
Lecturer
Male
Near and intermediate
PALs spectacles
-5.00
-4.25
-0.50
-0.50
2.50
THH
42
Marketing Executive
Female
Intermediate and distance
SV contact lenses
-5.50
-5.00
-0.50
-0.50
1.00
WAK
51
Clerk
Female
Near and intermediate
PALs spectacles
-2.00
-2.25
-0.25
0.50
2.00
WW
57
Office Lady
Female
Near and intermediate
PALs spectacles
1.00
0.75
-0.25
0.00
2.75
The baseline overall QRIC score was 52.75 ± 5.18, while total QRIC scores after wearing multifocal soft contact lenses was 46.90 ± 6.72. The paired-t test was used to compare the baseline overall QIRC score and overall QIRC score after fitting multifocal soft contact lenses which were statistically significant (p
