Contact Lens Eye Infections from Bad Habits Nearly Equal Among Adults and Children: Study

As part of Contact Lens Health Week, which kicks off today, researchers indicate that roughly six out of every seven contact lens wearers have at east one bad habit, which places them at a serious risk for eye infections and possible permanent impairment. 

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are promoting better contact lens care as part of an initiative that runs through August 25, encouraging the approximately 45 million contact lens users in the United States to engage in health wear and care practices.

The agency also published a study on August 18, finding nearly 85% of contact lenses wearers reported at least one behavior putting them at risk for a serious contact lens-related eye infection.

Researchers from the CDC performed a population-based survey to asses contact lens wear, care and risk behaviors among different age ranges. The online survey included 4,548 adults ages 18 and up, and 1,618 adolescents aged between 12 and 17 years.

Participants were asked questions about their contact lens use habits and whether they follow regularly scheduled visits to their eye care doctor and specific questions regarding their routine contact lens behaviors.

The survey data indicated approximately 85.3% of adolescents reported sleeping, swimming, or not replacing contact lenses and storage cases as recommended, putting them at increased risks of contact lenses related eye infections.

Among the young adult population, 80.9% partake in at least one infection-prone behavior, while 87.5% of the adult population reported at least one of the negative behaviors.

Some of the most common risk behaviors reported across all age groups were not visiting the eye doctor annually, sleeping or napping in lenses, and swimming while still wearing their contact lenses. Among young adults and adolescents, failure to replace lenses and storage cases were the highest recorded risk factors.

Engaging in such activities while wearing contact lenses can result in serious eye infections and could cause permanent vision impairment. Failure to replace contact lenses regularly can lead to eye discomfort, due to the lenses becoming dry and irritating. Not replacing contact lenses and contact lenses storage cases as often as recommended can increase users’ discomfort, but can also lead to infections.

The CDC warned that failing to change the contact lenses storage cases as recommended presents the opportunity to introduce microorganisms, and the moist surfaces of the storage cases can provide a favorable environment for microbial growth.

In 2016, the CDC estimated 2.6 million adolescents between 12 and 17 years, 7.5 million young adults between 18 and 24 years, and 33.9 million adults older than age 25 in the United States wore contact lenses. Approximately 90.4% of adults and 87.8% of adolescents reported wearing soft contact lenses, which allow oxygen to pass through the cornea, and require frequent changing.

The CDC recommends individuals wearing contact lenses of all ages to follow the following safety tips:

• Change and replace contact lenses as frequently as your eye doctor recommends
• Always wash your hands before changing your contacts to avoid microorganism entry into the eyes
• Rinse, disinfect and apply solution to your contact lenses as your eye doctor recommends to keep them clean and avoid eye irritations
• Always use sterile solutions for cleaning lenses and never just water, as water may contain microbes that could cause eye infections
• Be cautious of lenses becoming dry, especially when in front of a screen or computer, typically when individuals tend to blink less.