Journal of Clinical and Experimental Ophthalmology
Open Access

Comparison of contact lens hygiene compliance and self-management behaviors between medical and non-medical students in Saudi Arabia

International Conference on Ophthalmic and Oculoplastic Surgery

May 24-25, 2018 Osaka, Japan

Shehanah Alqhtani, Fatimah Fayez, Hala Alqahtani, Hiba Alrowibah and Anfal Aldulhum

Princess Nora bint Abdul Rahman University, Saudi Arabia

Posters & Accepted Abstracts: J Clin Exp Ophthalmol

Abstract :

Objectives: To compare contact lenses hygiene compliance and the self-management behavior. With a focus on wearing habits, cleaning and maintaining contact lenses by different methods. As well as, habits of sharing and self-prescription between medical and non-medical students in Saudi Arabia. Method: 500 young contact lenses wearers with an average age of 18-22 years were conveniently selected from the student population at Princess Nourah Bint Abdulrahman University, Riyadh. After taking verbal consent from the participants, their level of contact lenses hygiene compliance and self-management was assessed through a questionnaire. Results: The mean (�±SD) age of the participants was 20.87�±1.696 years. Out of 500 students 37.8% of them were medical students and 62.2% were non-medical students. 56% of students were wearing contact lenses for the cosmetic reasons while 43.6% of students were using them for the correction of their myopic refractive error. Most of the students were using daily wear soft contact lenses (96.6%) by self-prescription (51.4%) and majority of them were buying them from general retail store (83.6%) instead of some proper optician. The self-management behavior was statistically significant among non-medical students (p=0.026). There was no significant difference between the two groups regarding the compliance of the contact lens hygiene but, the knowledge and the awareness about the risks and complications was statistically higher in the medical students (p=0.028). Most of the students in our study had rated themselves as average wearers. Conclusion: This study concludes that self-management with the contact lenses use is very common among non-medical students in Saudi Arabia. Although they are good at hygiene compliance, their knowledge about the risks and the complications of contact lenses use as well as their knowledge about lens care accessories were significantly low.

Biography :

Shehanah Alqhtani is currently pursuing degree in Ophthalmology from College of Medicine, Princess Nora bint Abdul Rahman University, Saudi Arabia.
Email:alqahtanishehanah@gmail.com