Comparison Of The Tear Film Stability And Visual Performance Of A Novel And Two. Conventional Daily Disposable Contact Lenses In Healthcare Professionals Who Had To Wear Facial Masks For Prolonged Time, Final Report

The need to switch from glasses to contact lenses (CL) has increased for healthcare professionals, as fogging and sterilization problems due to the use of masks, which became mandatory with the Covid -19 pandemic. We aimed to identify the most appropriate daily disposable contact lens (DDCL) material in terms of tear film stabilization, and ocular comfort levels for prolonged use.

A randomized, prospective and comparative study.

 

The healthcare professionals between 18-40 years old who wanted to wear CL as first-time users were randomly included to the 3 study groups (group 1: verofilcon A, Precision 1^®, Alcon, group 2: nesofilcon A, Biotrue^® Oneday, B&L, and group 3: senofilcon A, Acuvue Oasys^®1-Day, J&J.  The patients were evaluated at baseline and after 4 weeks of CL wear with contact lens corrected visual acuity (CLCVA), keratometry, non-invasive tear break up time (NITBUT) at 0, 4^th, 8^th, and 12^th hours, high order aberrations (HoAs) obtained from Sirius Corneal Topography, contrast sensitivity (CS) with CVS100-E and Contact Lens Dry Eye Questionnaire-8 (CLDEQ-8) for comparative analysis.

 

Between August-September 2021, 147 eyes of 77 subjects included to the three study groups. The baseline and 0 hour mean values of CLCVA, keratometry, NITBUT and HoAs were similar. At the 4^th and 8^th hours the mean NIBUT scores were higher in group 1 compared to the group 3. At the 12^th hour NITBUT scores were statistically significantly higher in group 1. (p<0.001) The mean HoAs scores at 12^th hour were lower in group 1. (p<0.001). The CS scores at 3 and 12 cycle per degree spatial frequencies were similar in group 1 and 2 and statistically significantly higher than group 3. (p=0.002) The CLDEQ-8 scores were significantly higher in group 3. CL-related mechanical or inflammatory complications were not observed in any of the participants.

The final results of the study suggest the safety profile of the three CLs with superiority of the tear film stabilization capability of verofilcon A in prolonged use. The better visual and comfort scores of this lens at the 8    ^th and 12^th hours could be explained with a new and unique surface technology named SMARTSURFACE™ presenting a greater than 80% water content to maintain a stable pre-lens tear film. The higher CLDEQ-8 and HoAs scores of nesofilcon A could be depending on to the higher dehydration rates of the hydrogel CL materials compared to the silicon hydrogels CLs.