Results of the extended wear contact lens survey of the Contact Lens Section of the American Optometric Association.

Surveys of contact lens practice, comparing the use of daily wear and extended wear cosmetic soft contact lenses, were distributed to almost 3,000 members of the Contact Lens Section of the American Optometric Association. There were 759 responses received of which 440 were considered valid for analysis. The results of our analysis suggest that slightly more physiological complications are encountered with extended than with daily wear of contact lenses. Most optometrists (96%), however, are satisfied with this modality and continue prescribing extended wear lenses, although many have decreased the number of days over which patients are advised to use the lenses before removal and cleaning. Most of the respondees now favor medium water content, thin lens designs for extended wear use, with 70% of them suggesting weekly removal, cleaning and aseptization. Peroxide cleaning regimens are most popular for this function.