Quality Of Life Comparison Between Patients Wearing Multifocal Contact Lenses And Patients Wearing Multifocal Spectacles.

Background: Presbyopia in an inevitable condition, which involves the loss of
accommodation, near vision blur, and increasing difficulty with near vision tasks over
time. Luckily, today’s presbyopic patients have more options than ever before in terms
of optical correction. These options include different types of spectacles, contact lenses,
or even intraocular lens implants. When prescribing optical correction for presbyopes,
the modern eye care practitioner must consider many factors, including lifestyle and
activities of daily living. This study will aim to reveal the difference in the quality of life
in presbyopes corrected with multifocal contact lenses and those corrected with
spectacles.
Methods: Prior to enrollment in the study, informed consent was obtained for each participant. Participants were given two surveys to complete. The first survey was a
short questionnaire regarding the type of optical correction the patient is currently using.
The National Eye Institute Refractive Error Quality of Life Instrument-42 (NEI RQL–42)
was also used to highlight the impact of different types of visual correction on the
participants’ quality of life. Subjects were given the opportunity to complete the surveys
either on paper or online.
Results: Of the 13 subscales that make up the NEI-RQL-42 survey, only two subscales showed a statistically significant difference between the two groups. Group 2 scored better than Group 1 in the appearance (p = 0.029) and the satisfaction with correction (p = 0.005) subscales. Group 3 also scored better than Group1 in the appearance (p = 0.037) and satisfaction with correction (p = 0.025) subscales.
Conclusion. There is little difference in quality of life between contact lens wearing presbyopes and those wearing multifocal spectacles. Overall, contact lens wearers were
happier with their appearance and more satisfied with their correction than spectacle
wearers.