Abstract
Introduction: Although there are continuous breakthroughs in the contact lens (CL) industry, to provide safe CLs and to meet the continuous demand, CL-induced ocular complications induced by CL wear, especially corneal ulcer (CU) is still troublesome.
Purpose: To evaluate the adherence to the guidelines of CL care practice among the students of Umm Al-Qura University in Makkah, Saudi Arabia.
Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional structured questionnaire survey of 31 elements was conducted electronically on 4462 college students from the preparatory year, in the Umm Al-Qura University to evaluate the general knowledge and practice of CL wear, care and its possible complications.
Results: A total of 543 (50.1%) students, out of 1074, wore CL. 335 (63.3%) female students used CL for cosmetic reasons which were significantly high (P < 0.001). 148 (29.8%) students wore CLs for more than 3 years. Among these CL wearers, 66 (13.3%) students wore CLs for more than 8 h daily, 33.1% wore daily disposable CL, 7.9% wore weekly disposable CL, and 55% wore monthly disposable CL. 58 (11.6%) students slept with the CL. 73 (14.6%) and 34 (6.8%) students wore CL during shower and swimming, respectively. 33 (6.6%) students did not wash their hands before handling CL. 349 (70.4%) students did not rub their CL with fingers before soaking in the solution. 100 (20.1%) did not rinse their CL. About 253 (52.2%) students had ocular complaints. 260 (79.7%) students had some allergic reaction, dry eyes in 132 (40.2%) were advised to quit CL wear by doctors, corneal abrasions in 58 (17.4%), and CUs in 26 (8%). 53 (16.3%) students used CL for more than 3 years (P = 0. 043), frequent daily use of CL (P = 0.019), sleeping with CL (P < 0.0001), and water activity as a shower (P = 0.002) or swimming (P = 0.016) were associated with CU.
Conclusion: More than half of our students experienced eye complications due to improper care of CL. Increasing awareness is crucial to avoid identified risk factors for CU.