Accuracy And Confidence In The Evaluation Of Vault Measurements In Scleral Lenses: A Comparative Study Of Novice And Experienced Fitters Utilizing A Vault Estimation Guide.

Background: In hopes of increasing the number of scleral lens fits performed in practice, it is believed that the accuracy and confidence level of the fitter needs to be increased. The study attempted to determine the amount of accuracy and confidence that the utilization of a vault estimation guide can provide to a fitter.
Methods: The study was conducted through critical evaluation of the results of an online survey. 156 participants responded to the survey including both optometric students/novice scleral lens fitters and experienced scleral lens fitters. The first part of the survey included 4 photographs of scleral lens fits which the participant estimated the vaults of and rate their perceived confidence in that estimation. The second portion included 4 photographs to estimate vault, but also included a scleral lens vault measurement guide to utilize in their estimation of vault and confidence level. The photographs used in the survey are scleral lens fits that had vault measurements calculated by anterior segment OCT.
Results: Evaluation of the study determined and compared the overall accuracy and perceived confidence in both novice and experienced fitters with and without the guide, as well as a comparison of those values between the two groups of fitters. It will help determine the usefulness of the guide to increase confidence and accuracy in vault estimation of novice fitters. Variables in this study include the experience of the scleral lens fitter, the presence or absence of the scleral lens vault measurement guide and its usefulness in vault estimation, and the participant’s confidence in estimating vault depth both with and without the guide. The collected data was analyzed with statistical software, and indicated statistically significant increases in many of the groups’ accuracy and confidence ranking in evaluating scleral lens vault depth.
Conclusions: This study attempts to determine if a scleral fitting guide is useful in improving confidence and accuracy in fitters of all experience levels, especially novice fitters. In conclusion, a scleral lens fitting guide can improve both accuracy and confidence of scleral lens fittings in both novice and experienced fitters. Ultimately, this may encourage novice scleral lens fitters to increase the number of fits performed in practice by utilizing a scleral lens vault measurement guide.