Abstract
Aim: In this study, we aimed to assess attitudes and knowledge of contact lenses (CL) among female students from Northern Border University (NBU) of Saudi Arabia.
Material and Methods: This questionnaire-based survey was conducted on 392 undergraduate female students from five colleges of NBU. Their ages ranged from 18 to 27 years, with a mean age of 23.7 +/- 5.3 years. Participants who did not provide a completely filled questionnaire were excluded from this study.
Results: In our study, a positive attitude towards CL was found in 72.7% of participants, and sufficient knowledge about CL was shown by 64% of participants. The faculties, personal history of refractive error (RE), or personal history of CL wearing had significantly influenced both the knowledge and the attitude of the participants towards CL Only 254 (64.7%) of all participants reported that they had tried CL at least once during their life. Among the participants with a history of CL wearing, 72.4% had used CL for both RE and cosmetic purposes, and 71.2% revealed that they were satisfied with their CL use. Comfort was cited by 64.5% of CL wearers to be the main reason for their CL choice. Soft and monthly disposable CLs were the most popular among our participants. The most common CL- related complication in our study was red eyes in 39% of cases. To overcome the complications caused by CL, 62.6% of CL wearers reported that they discontinued using CL without further treatment, 28% had opted for self-medication after removal of CL, while only 16.9% reported that they preferred to consult an ophthalmologist for any CL- related complication. CL sellers were the main source (32.9% of participants) with a limited role of ophthalmologists and optometrists (13.5% of participants) in the source of their CL- related knowledge.
Discussion: Despite the positive attitude and overall good knowledge demonstrated by the majority of the NBU female undergraduates, knowledge related to particular aspects like cleaning of CL and the use of CL in active inflammation/infection was found to be unsatisfactory. More ocular health education sessions with the active role of ophthalmologists and optometrists need to be focused on to increase awareness in these areas.