Contact lens prescribing pattern in India--2011.

Purpose: To understand the pattern of prescribing contact lenses (CL) among Indian practitioners.

Methods: Survey forms were sent to 257 practitioners across the country to collect information about their last 10 CL fits, location and type of practice, years of experience and educational qualification. A logistic regression analysis was performed to determine any association of various factors to the lens fitting pattern and chi-square test was used to compare proportions. The data were analyzed using SPSS v.16.

Results: CL fitting details from 227 practitioners were acquired representing a total of 2270 fits. The mean age of patients was 26.8±7.4 years and 67% of them were females. Ninety-eight percent of patients wore soft CL comprising 24% toric lenses. Ninety percent patients preferred disposable modality with 65% of these opting for monthly disposable lenses. Twenty-eight percent of the lenses dispensed were silicone hydrogel (SiH) lenses. Optometry practices located in metropolitan cities dispensed significantly higher numbers of disposable (p<0.001) and SiH lenses (p<0.001). Logistic regression analysis showed Fellowship of International Association of Contact Lens Educators (FIACLE) (OR: 13.79, 95% CI: 2.61-72.70), post graduate degree (OR: 3.87, 95% CI: 0.87-17.12) and years of experience were directly associated with fitting of advanced CL.

Conclusion: The CL prescribing patterns in India elicited from this survey suggest the dominance (90%) of prescribing of disposable soft CL. Higher level of education, greater experience and a FIACLE status were significantly associated with advanced fitting.