Contact lens usage and health literacy among Turkish adults

Objective: To evaluate the usage of contact lenses and health literacy among ophthalmology clinic outpatients.. Patients and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on outpatients of an ophthalmology clinic between July and September 2019. The data were collected using a questionnaire that consisted of questions about sociodemographic characteristics, contact lensrelated behaviors, the European Health Literacy Scale (HLS-EU) Short-Form, and the Ocular Surface Disease Index. Contact lensrelated behavior was evaluated through 15 questions. P < 0.05 was accepted as statistically significant. Results: In the study group 402 (54.8%) of the participants were males. The ages of the patients ranged between 18 and 75 years, with a mean (SD) of 39.20 (15.0) years. It was found that 28.4% (n = 208) of the study group participants were contact lens wearers. The health literacy level was higher in the contact lens wearers. A positive correlation was found between the scores of the HLS-EU and the answers to the contact lens-related behavior questions. Conclusion: In this study, we found that the health literacy levels of the contact lens wearers were higher than those of the non-contact lens wearers. As the health literacy of the patients increased, the behaviors towards the correct use of contact lenses improved. It is recommended that more detailed studies be carried out in the field of health literacy with contact lens use.

___

  • Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Fast Facts 2018. Available from: https://www.cdc.gov/contactlenses/fast-facts.html. Accessed on: 09.10.2019
  • Sundu C, Dinc E, Sari A, Yildirim O, Temel G. Uncontrolled selling of contact lenses [Kontrolsuz kontakt lens satisi]. Turkish J Ophthalmol 2015;45:102-5.
  • Cavanagh HD, Robertson DM, Petroll WM, Jester JV. Forty years in search of the perfect contact lens. Cornea 2010;29:1075. doi: 10.1097/ICO.0b013e3181d103bb
  • Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Healthy Contact Lens Wear and Care 2019. Available from: https://www.cdc.gov/contactlenses/index.html. Accessed on 09.05.2019
  • Turkish Ministry of Health Yearbook-2017. Ankara: Ministry of Health, 2018 (pdf). Available from: http://ohsad.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/28310 Accessed on: 21.11.2019
  • Stapleton F, Keay L, Edwards K, et al. The incidence of contact lens related microbial keratitis in Australia. Ophthalmology 2008;115:1655-62. doi: doi: 10.1016/j.ophtha.2008.04.002
  • Key JE. Development of contact lenses and their worldwide use. Eye Contact Lens 2007;33:343-5. doi: 10.1097/ICL.0b013e318157c230
  • Kanpolat A. Kontakt lensler: dün, bugün, yarın. Turkiye Klinikleri Ophthalmology-Special Topics 2008;1:1-13.
  • Prevention CfDCa. Healthy Contact Lens Wear and Care 2014 [Available from: https://www.cdc.gov/contactlenses/other-complications.html.
  • Cope JR, Collier SA, Rao MM, et al. Contact lens wearer demographics and risk behaviors for contact lens-related eye infections—United States, 2014. MMWR Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report 2015;64:865.
  • Dinc E, Yildirim Ö, Altiparmak G, Adiguzel U, Temel G. A major public health problem: uncontrolled wearing of contact lenses. Turk J Ophthalmol 2012;42:84-7.
  • McMonnies CW. Improving contact lens compliance by explaining the benefits of compliant procedures. Cont Lens Anterior Eye 2011;34:249-52. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clae.2011.06.006
  • Wagner H, Richdale K, Mitchell GL, et al. Age, behavior, environment, and health factors in the soft contact lens risk survey. Optom Vis Sci 2014;91:252-61. doi: 10.1097/OPX.0000000000000164
  • Cope JR, Collier SA, Nethercut H, Jones JM, Yates K, Yoder JS. Risk behaviors for contact lens-related eye infections among adults and adolescents-United States, 2016. MMWR Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report 2017;66:841. doi: 10.15585/mmwr.mm6632a2
  • Emiral G, Aygar H, Atalay B, et al. Health literacy scale-European union-Q16: a validity and reliability study in Turkey. Int Res J Medical Sci 2018;6:1-7.
  • Irkec M, Group TOS. Reliability and validity of Turkish translation of the Ocular Surface Disease Index (OSDI) in dry eye syndrome. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 2007;48:408.
  • Sørensen K, Van den Broucke S, et al. Measuring health literacy in populations: illuminating the design and development process of the European Health Literacy Survey Questionnaire (HLS-EU-Q). BMC Public Health 2013;13:948. doi: 10.1186/1471-2458-13-948
  • Walt J, Rowe M, Stern K. Evaluating the functional impact of dry eye: the Ocular Surface Disease Index. Drug Inf J 1997;31:b5.
  • Morgan PB, Efron N, Helland M, et al. Demographics of international contact lens prescribing. Cont Lens Anterior Eye 2010;33:27-9. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clae.2009.09.006
  • Edwards K, Keay L, Naduvilath T, Stapleton F. The penetrance and characteristics of contact lens wear in A ustralia. Clin Exp Optom 2014;97:48-54. https://doi.org/10.1111/cxo.12078
  • Abokyi S, Manuh G, Otchere H, Ilechie A. Knowledge, usage and barriers associated with contact lens wear in Ghana. Cont Lens Anterior Eye 2017;40:329-34. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clae.2017.05.006
  • Aziz NAA, Ghani NAA, Isa KAM, Mustafa N. Knowledge and practice of contact lens usage and care among medical students of Universiti Teknologi MARA. Environment-Behaviour Proceedings Journal 2019;4:53-60. doi: 10.21834/e-bpj.v4i11.1742
  • Swanson MW. A cross-sectional analysis of US contact lens user demographics. Optom Vis Sci 2012;89:839-48. doi: 10.1097/OPX.0b013e318255da45
  • Ocansey S, Ogbomo GO, Abu EK, Morny EK, Adjei-Boye O. Profile, knowledge, and attitude of contact lens users regarding contact lens wear in Ghana. Cont Lens Anterior Eye 2019;42:170-7. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clae.2018.10.012
  • Stapleton F, Carnt N. Contact lens-related microbial keratitis: how have epidemiology and genetics helped us with pathogenesis and prophylaxis. Eye 2012;26:185. https://doi.org/10.1038/eye.2011.288
  • Berenson AB, Chang M, Hirth JM, Merkley KH. Use and misuse of cosmetic contact lenses among US adolescents in Southeast Texas. Adoles Health Med Ther 2019;10:1-6. doi: 10.2147/AHMT.S196573
  • Bowden T, Nosch DS, Harknett T. Contact lens profile: A tale of two countries. Cont Lens Anterior Eye 2009;32:273-82. doi: 10.1016/j.clae.2009.09.002
  • Dalton M. Understanding prevalence, demographics of dry eye disease. Ophthalmol Times 2019.
  • Efron N, Brennan NA, Bright FV, et al. Contact lens care and ocular surface homeostasis. Cont Lens Anterior Eye 2013;36:S9-S13. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1367-0484(13)60004-1
  • Nichols JJ, Sinnott LT. Tear film, contact lens, and patient-related factors associated with contact lens–related dry eye. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 2006;47:1319-28. doi:https://doi.org/10.1167/iovs.05-1392
  • Tsubota K, Yokoi N, Shimazaki J, et al. New perspectives on dry eye definition and diagnosis: a consensus report by the Asia Dry Eye Society. Ocular Surf 2017;15:65-76. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtos.2016.09.003
  • Harrison TC, Mackert M, Watkins C. Health literacy issues among women with visual impairments. Res Gerontol Nurs 2010;3:49-60. https://doi.org/10.3928/19404921-20090731-01
  • Shrestha MK, Guo CW, Maharjan N, Gurung R, Ruit S. Health literacy of common ocular diseases in Nepal. BMC Ophthalmol 2014;14:2. doi.org/10.1186/1471-2415-14-2