Multisite comparison of contact lens modalities. Daily disposable wear vs. conventional daily wear in successful contact lens wearers.
BACKGROUND: RESULTS are reported for the first year of one facet of an ongoing multisite clinical investigation. In this article, one subpopulations of subjects wearing soft contact lenses on a daily disposable wear schedule (DDW is compared to a second subpopulation wearing lenses on a conventional daily wear (CDW) basis. METHODS: All subjects recruited were successfully wearing lenses on a conventional daily wear basis at the time of enrollment. In addition to an initial visit, follow-up visits occurred at 1, 4, 12, 26 and 52 weeks. Areas of assessment included vision, comfort, ocular health, subject-reported symptoms, lens surface deposits and overall satisfaction. A total of 70 subjects were dispensed lenses on a daily disposable schedule and 125 subjects were dispensed lenses on a conventional daily wear schedule. RESULTS: Five DDW subjects and 15 CDW subjects discontinued before the 52-week follow-up visit. When the findings of the 52-week follow-up visit were compared, the DDW group performed significantly better than the CDW group in the following areas: Snellen visual acuity, subjective vision and comfort assessment, symptomatology, lens deposits and overall satisfaction. In addition, while performance levels tended to improve in the DDW group when the results from the 52-week follow-up visit were compared with the 1-week follow-up visit, they tended to decline in the CDW group over this period of time. Subjects wearing lenses on a daily disposable basis were significantly less likely to report for an unscheduled visit than subjects wearing lenses on a conventional wear basis, with the DDW subjects reporting with less serious ocular health problems. CONCLUSIONS: Patients who were wearing conventional reusable daily wear lenses and refit into lens wear on a daily disposable basis realized clinically significant advantages compared to a similar population of patients who were refit with lenses worn on a conventional daily wear basis.