Bausch + Lomb’s SofLens Toric disposable toric soft contact lens corrects up to -2.75 D of astigmatism.
A high percentage of people who may be considering soft contacts could benefit from toric contact lenses that correct astigmatism, according to a new study.
Researchers in the U.K. evaluated a database of 11,624 eyeglass prescriptions to determine the prevalence of clinically significant astigmatism among this population.
Analysis of the data revealed 47.4 percent of patients had 0.75 diopter (D) or more astigmatism in at least one eye, and 24.1 percent had this amount of astigmatism in both eyes.
People with myopia were nearly twice as likely to have clinically significant astigmatism compared with farsighted patients (31.7 percent vs. 15.7 percent).
The study also found most astigmatic eyes had less than 2.00 D of astigmatism. Only 5.6 percent of eyes in the study were prescribed lenses with astigmatism correction of 2.00 D or more.
Most eye care professionals agree that patients with astigmatism of 0.75 D or more will see better with toric soft contact lenses than conventional soft lenses, and many brands of toric soft contacts that correct up to 2.00 D of astigmatism are available. For higher amounts of astigmatism, custom toric lenses also are available.
Other options for astigmatism correction include rigid gas permeable contacts (also called GP lenses) and hybrid contact lenses that feature a gas permeable optical center, surrounded by a cushioning skirt of soft lens material.
A full report of the astigmatism study appears in this month’s issue of Eye & Contact Lens.