Some interesting insights into contact lens wearers habits and attitudes in the UK have been found in a large scale survey of spectacle and contact lens wearers. Over 3000 patients took part in the survey across Europe, including over 600 in the UK.

Unsurprisingly 77% of UK contact lens wearers were female and 92% of wearers use both contact lenses and spectacles. Over 50% of contact lens wearers wear their glasses every day. On average UK contact lens wearers wear their lenses for 11 hours a day and 4.6 days per week. Half the wearers reported first going into contact lenses before the age of 19, suggesting the importance of offering contact lenses to teenage patients. Spectacle wearers under 19 had little awareness of the visual performance of contact lenses compared to spectacles and only 13% of parents were against their children wearing contact lenses.

38% of patients listed appearance as the main reason they wear contact lenses and this rated even higher in under 24 years age group; 30% listed contacts being more convenient than glasses as their main reason and 17% cited an active lifestyle or sport as their main reason, though this was more common among males and daily disposable wearers (see figure 1).

Figure 1
Reasons for wearing contact lenses

These findings provide a useful insight for considering how to suggest contact lenses to a patient who has never worn them depending on the age, gender and lifestyle. Part time wearers in particular wear their lenses most commonly for socialising, sport and on weekends, so investigating patients’ lifestyles outside work is key to finding opportunities to meet your patients needs and to gain incremental sales.

Some interesting figures on compliance with lens replacement were found. 81% of daily disposable wearers said they replaced them daily, 88% of monthly disposable wearers replaced them monthly but only 53% of 2 weekly patients replaced their lenses fortnightly as instructed by their optician.

The survey revealed several opportunities for practitioners to grow their contact lens business. Spectacle wearers had little awareness of contact lenses for astigmatism indicating a great opportunity to exceed patient expectations by offering them something they did not think they could have. This is a great way to build loyalty in your practice.

39% of contact lens wearers were interested in being able to sleep in their lenses, much higher than the current level of extended wear contact lens fitting. The main factor influencing choice of contact lens was unsurprisingly the optician, but the second most common factor was other staff in the optical practice. This highlights the importance receptionists, optical assistants and dispensing opticians can play in promoting contact lenses in your practice.

Opinion Market Research and Consulting GMBH 2006