Patients, Clinicians Report Satisfaction With Stenfilcon A Multifocal Contacts 

Stenfilcon A multifocal contact lenses (CLs) enable a satisfactory fitting experience for clinicians and wearing experience for patients with presbyopia with respect to vision, comfort, and handling, according to data reported in Clinical Optometry.

Researchers included 196 eye care professionals (ECPs) from 11 countries who fit a combined 1505 patients with presbyopia (73% women; mean age, 53.4; 27% neophytes) with the CL in the analysis. Stratified according to refractive error, the investigation included 845 patients with myopia, 154 individuals with emmetropia and 506 participants with hyperopia. A total of 1440 patients completed a 1- to 2-week follow-up visit and 141 ECPs completed a post-fitting survey. The ECPs received training on proper lens fitting from the manufacturer prior to fitting their patients and participants completed an online survey to report satisfaction with comfort, vision and lens fit. 

Based on a 10-point scale (1, not satisfied; 10, extremely satisfied), patients reported scores higher than 8 for overall comfort, overall vision, and overall satisfaction at the initial visit, and these values did not change significantly after 1 to 2 weeks of wear. The stenfilcon A multifocal was preferred by 66% of patients over their habitual correction, according to the report. Mean satisfaction scores and the proportion of patients reporting high satisfaction did not vary significantly according to refractive error type, add power, CL wear experience, or CL replacement frequency.

A majority of ECPs reported satisfaction with the lens — 71% were either satisfied or extremely satisfied with the soft multifocal options available before the investigation, and this increased to 84% in ECPs who completed the post-fitting survey. A total of 92% of ECPs reported they would recommend the lens, 94% stated that it was fast and easy to fit, and 95% reported that the fit guide was easy to use.

“With the knowledge that the presbyopic population is increasing, it is important that ECPs have high performing soft multifocal CLs to offer those patients interested in wearing contact lenses. Key attributes for a soft multifocal lens are to deliver comfort, vision, and ease of fit,” according to the study authors. “Ensuring that soft multifocal fitting is straightforward and successful in routine clinical practice is key to demonstrating the value of the lens design in question.”

Study limitations include possible recall bias among participants and possible favorability bias among ECPs towards the lens brand.

Disclosure: This research was supported by CooperVision. Multiple study authors declared affiliations with biotech, pharmaceutical, and/or clinical research organizations. Please see the original reference for a full list of authors’ disclosures.