Beliefs, attitude and knowledge of contact lens wear and care among Saudi Arabia population

Abstract

People wear contact lenses (CL) not only to correct the refractive errors of the eye, but also for cosmetic reasons. However, people who wear CL have little or no knowledge of the rules of proper handling of CL and of the complications they may cause. Our aim is to assess the awareness of CL wear and care in Saudi Arabia. This is a prospective cross-sectional study. A validated questionnaire was administered between June to July 2018. The age range of target participants was between 18 and 60 years. The invitation to participate in the study was sent to 900 individuals and the data was statistically analyzed using SPSS v24.0l. The study targeted 507 participants, with a mean age 25.03 SD (±7.79). The results indicate that 100 participants (29.5%) wear CL for refractive correction, 134 (39.5%) wear them for cosmetic reasons, while 105 (31%) wear them for both correction and cosmetic ends. Moreover, 498 (98%) of the participants report that wearing contact lens during sleep is harmful to eyes, and 90% of the participants believed that swimming with CL might have negative effects on the eyes. 67% of the participants believed the misuse of contact lenses may cause corneal ulcer, 67% of participants think the contact lenses cause blindness. The use of contact lenses in Saudi Arabia is mainly for cosmetic reasons. Accordingly, there is a need for health education program on how to use contact lenses for cosmetic reasons to minimize their risks. *Correspondence to: Abdulrahman Jazaa Alharbi, Doctor of optometry (OD), Qassim University, Saudi Arabia, E-mail: Abdulrhman426@hotmail.com