Toric Soft Contact Lenses: Where Are We Now?

Optometric Management, Feb 2005 by Hickson-Curran, Sheila, Dias, Louis

Lessons learned

This study has confirmed that astigmatic patients have high expectations of their contact lenses, particularly with regard to vision and comfort. Patients' satisfaction with their current lenses was consistently rated low in comparison with their rating of the importance of various attributes to contact lens performance and the characteristics they considered important when deciding which brand of soft toric lenses to buy.

Comparing these findings with those of our previous study, we found that good vision and comfort, the features that astigmatic patients consider most important to contact lens performance, are also the principal reasons why practitioners prescribe soft toric contact lenses and are among the deciding factors when selecting a lens brand of first choice.

Where do we go from here?

The number of patients who could benefit from soft toric contact lenses is still vastly greater than those who are prescribed and who successfully wear currently available products, and the unmet eyecare practitioner and patient needs that these two surveys highlight suggest reasons for this fact.

If manufacturers provide a contact lens that better meets the needs of eyecare practitioners and satisfies patients' expectations, then everyone will benefit. A faster fitting, more stable lens that delivers expectations of excellent comfort and vision will close the gap between these expectations and the soft toric contact lenses that are currently available.

We should judge new soft toric contact lenses that enter the market in 2005 on their ability to address the need for improved vision, comfort and ease of fit in the category.

BY SHEILA HICKSON-CURRAN, B.Sc., MCOptom, F.A.A.O. & LOUIS DIAS, B.Sc.

Jacksonville, Fla.

Dr. Hickson-Curran is principal research optometrist at Vistakon, Division of Johnson & Johnson Vision Care, Inc. She has a special interest in contact lens design and correction of astigmatism and has been issued patents and has authored papers and book chapters on these topics.

Louis Dias is worldwide director of New Products Marketing Research at Vistakon. He has a special interest in customer-centric product development and has been involved in multiple new product launches in different categories.