Monovision with disposable and daily-wear two-week replacement contact lenses

Abstract

A clinical investigation was conducted to determine the success rate for two groups of presbyopic subjects who wore ACU-VUE ® contact lenses on a monovision basis. Group I consisted of 172 consecutive presenting patients who had never before worn contact lenses. Group II subjects consisted of presenting or preselected presbyopes who were (a) currently wearing contact lenses for distance correction only; (b) previously unsuccessful with bifocal contact lenses; or (c) currently wearing bifocal contact lenses less than satisfactorily. Following a brief explanation of monovision, patients of both groups were simply asked if they would be interested in trying monovision contact lenses on a free trial basis. Subjects who expressed interest, and who satisfied routine eligibility and clinical performance criteria, wore lenses for either 1 week or 2 weeks. At the investigator's discretion, lenses were worn either on an extended wear disposable basis (7 days/6 nights maximum without removal) or on a daily wear 2-week replacement basis. If clinical performance was acceptable, subjects were given the option at the end of the trial to continue monovision contact lens wear as full paying patients. Of 172 Group I subjects asked, 102 (59%) responded affirmatively and 87 (51%) participated in the free trial. Of the 87 Group I subjects participating in the trial, 55 (63%) chose to continue in monovision lenses (73% of whom were still successful after 6 months). Of 72 Group II subjects asked, 67 (93%) responded affirmatively and 64 (89%) participated in the free trial. Of the 64 Group II subjects participating in the trial, 52 (81%) chose to continue in monovision lenses (81% of whom were still successful after 6 months). The study results support the contention that monovision wear of disposable or daily wear 2-week replacement contact lenses offers the contact lens fitter a significant practice-building opportunity when presented in a free trial format to potentially interested patients.