Influence of the COVID-19 pandemic on contact lens wear in Spain.

Abstract

Purpose: To investigate the behaviour of contact lens (CL) wearers in Spain during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: An anonymized web-based questionnaire was used to assess demographics, CL history, and activity, CL wear habits and perceived risk of infection due to CL wear during the COVID-19 pandemic. Results: A total of 737 participants with an average age of 27.4 (±9.3) years completed the online questionnaire. The vast majority of respondents were soft CL wearers and reported at least two years of CL wear. Patients concerns about the increased risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection due to CL wear (40.6 % of participants) were significantly related (χ2(1) = 11.195, p < 0.05) to CL discontinuation (46 % of participants) during the COVID-19 pandemic. This fact joins the significant changes in the frequency of CL wear during the COVID-19 pandemic (χ2(4) = 31.982, p < 0.05), with a tendency to increase occasional CL wear from 29.1 % to 61.8 %. Interestingly, the majority of respondent (87.9 %) indicated that no professional had offered them information related to CL wear and COVID-19, and that they had not sought it on their own (82.2 %). Conclusion: There is a relationship between the perceived risk of infection and CL dropout during the COVID-19 pandemic, and a tendency to change the CL frequency of wear, with an increase in occasional CL wear. During the ongoing pandemic, eye care practitioners should reinforce CL patient education to minimize the risk of SARS- CoV-2 infection and CL-related complications requiring clinical care.

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El estudio revela que la pandemia de COVID-19 influyó en los hábitos de uso de LC en España. Un número significativo de participantes reportó una disminución en el uso de LC, principalmente debido a la preocupación por el riesgo de infección y al aumento del teletrabajo. Estos cambios en el comportamiento pueden tener implicaciones para la salud ocular y la calidad de vida de los usuarios de LC. La información proporcionada por el estudio es relevante para los profesionales de la salud visual, ya que les permite comprender mejor las preocupaciones de los pacientes y ofrecer recomendaciones adecuadas sobre el uso seguro de LC durante pandemias.