Contact lens use among medical students in Goa: A cross sectional study
Abstract
Contact lenses use on increasing trend specially among youth; however its usage has been limited because of the associated complications. Studies have been done in other states of India to assess the awareness and practices about contact lens usage among medical students. But not a single such study done in Goa. Hence a cross sectional, descriptive study was conducted among 600 medical students at Goa medical College over a period of 2 months after Institutional Ethics Committee approval and consent from the participants. The participants were administered a semi-structured questionnaire to assess the various variable like length of use, used per day, reasons for use etc and complications of using contact lenses. Statistical software SPSS 22 (trial version) was used for data analysis. It was observed that the percentage of medical students using contact lenses was 5%. Majority of contact lens users were femalesi.e.76.67%. Majority (53.33%) of study participants used contact lenses for more than 24 months, 26.67% used for 12-24 months, 13.33% for 6-11 months and only 6.6% used contact lenses for less than 6 months. Majority (44.33%) of participants used lenses for cosmetic reasons. Regarding contact lens used per day, 43.33% used contact lenses for less than 8 hours, 36.67% for 8 to 11 hours and only 20% for more than 12 hours a day. Regarding complications, 30% had ocular discomfort, 26.67% had watering of eyes. Other problems were dry eyes (20%), red eyes (6.67%), short wearing time (6.67%) and poor distant vision (3.33%).
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Introduction
Contact lenses are increasing in popularity among youth because of ease of usage, better quality of vision as compared to spectacles and for cosmetic reasons.1 However, contact lenses are associated with complications such as dry eye, giant papillary conjunctivitis, corneal edema, corneal ulcers, keratitis and neovascularization.2,3 The awareness of these complications are reportedly less among the youth.4 Studies have been done in other states of India to assess the pattern of contact lens usage among medical students. But despite extensive literature search not a single such study done in Goa was not found. Hence this study was conducted among medical students in Goa medical College to study the pattern of contact lens usage among them and its reasons & complications.
Conclusion
This study depicts the pattern of contact lens usage among Medical students in Goa is lower (5%) than other parts of country. And it is evident that most participants were using contact lenses due to cosmetic reasons. About one third students felt discomfort with contact lenses, watering eyes by 26.67%, dry eyes in 20%, red eyes in 6.67%, short wearing time in 6.67% and poor distant vision in 3.33% of contact lens users. It is also noted that there is a need for better awareness among medical students regarding the correct practices that need to be followed by someone using contact lenses. A few students were facing problems with usage of contact lenses and were advised to take an Ophthalmologist’s opinion for the same.