Abstract
PURPOSE: To evaluate the intention to continue wearing silicone hydrogel daily disposable contact lenses (CLs) in verofilcon A (PRECISION1(®), Alcon Laboratories, USA) among neophyte wearers after a short period of use and to identify potential factors influencing this intention. METHODS: A prospective, single-masked, single-arm clinical trial, was conducted at the University of Milano-Bicocca on ninety-five ametropic non-contact lens wearers (52 females and 43 males; mean age ± SD: 25.4 ± 5.3 years; range: 18-40). Participants were fitted in verofilcon A daily disposable CLs, and after receiving training on lens application and removal, were instructed to wear them for 14 days (at least 5 days a week, minimum 5 hours a day). At the follow-up visit, participants completed a series of subjective evaluations (0-100 visual analogue scales; VAS) referring to their experience over the 14-day with lens insertion and removal, comfort at insertion, end of day comfort, quality of vision, and overall satisfaction. They also rated their intention to continue CLs wear (0-100 VAS scale) and indicated their main reasons for doing so. RESULTS: The mean (± SD) CL power prescribed was -1.90±1.42 D (range +2.00 to -6.00) for the right eye and -1.86±1.43 D (range +1.50 to -6.00) for the left eye. At the follow-up visit, monocular visual acuity with CLs was -0.15±0.08 logMAR in both eyes and -0.20±0.07 logMAR binocularly. Hierarchical regression analysis incorporating motivation-to-continue wear variables accounted for 57% of the variance. Three motivational factors (aesthetic, convenience, and sport) were significant predictors of the intention to continue CL wear. CONCLUSION: Providing ametropic non-CL wearers with a structured, evidence-based CL fitting experience can be an effective strategy to promote long-term CL adoption. Behavioral intention to continue daily disposable CL wear was mainly influenced by motivational factors related to aesthetics, convenience and sport activities.