Journal of Clinical and Experimental Ophthalmology
Open Access
ISSN: 2155-9570
ISSN: 2155-9570
David Berkow
Ulster University, Israel
Keynote: Clin Exp Ophthalmol
Contact lens discomfort can eventually lead to discontinuation of contact lens wear. Permanent contact lens dropouts range from 12% to 43%. We as eye-care practitioners need to wake up and see what we can do to reduce this phenomenon. If we think that we have a drop-out rate of 16% in our practice that means that one in six of our contact lens patients stops wearing their contact lenses. This has a great economic impact on the practice. This presentation will emphasize and explain the different categories that cause contact lens drop out (e.g. eye related, lens related, patient related problems, misjudgment on the part of the practitioner and lack of availability of the required product) and will also explain what to check prior to the fitting process in order to predict the chances that there could be problems when wearing contact lenses. It will explain the contact lens discomfort classification as described by Nichols et al., 2013, emphasizing all the relevant problems related to the presbyopic age group including hormonal issues that affect the tear film. This presentation will explain the most common reasons that presbyopic contact lens wearers stop wearing their lenses and how to deal with them. It will also explain what to check in prior to the fitting process in order to predict the chances that there could be problems when wearing contact lenses. These may be solved in advance (e.g., ocular surface disease, dryeyes due to aqueous deficient reasons or perhaps evaporative reasons, systemic diseases, hormonal changes, toxic drugs, preservatives and systemic drugs.) The presentation will explain which tests to conduct to check tear film dysfunction and how to evaluate the ocular surface. It will go through the different steps to take in order to reduce the drop-out tragedy. What question to ask, what not to ask or say, to think out of the box for different solutions. The presentation will explain in detail the types of multifocal lenses available, advantages and disadvantages, and the fitting principles in order to reduce dropout rate.
David Berkow (Israel) qualified as an Optometrist at the Teknikon in Johannesburg, Republic of South Africa and returned to Israel to start practicing in Optometry. At the time there was no optometry law in Israel until 1991 where he submitted his qualifications and was issued with the certificate from the Ministry of Health (1992). In 1983, he was awarded Fellowship of The American Academy of Optometry. He has been a member of The British Contact Lens Association for over 25 years. In 1984, he went to London to register as an Optometrist in England. As a foreign Optometrist, he attended the course at the London Refraction Hospital and sat the examinations in order to qualify to register with the G.O.C. After passing, he registered with the G.O.C. keeping up registration until December 2005. He also became a member of The British College of Optometrists and has been a member since. He practices general optometry and has a special interest in contact lenses. Recently he was awarded Fellowship of The British Contact Lens Association
E-mail: berkowdavid@gmail.com