A mobile application promoting good contact lens practices
Contact lens complications pose an ongoing problem for both optometrists and contact lens wearers. Most of these complications are due to noncompliance to good care practices. Education is the first step to ensuring compliance. If good habits are created on commencement of wear, patients are more likely to continue with these habits or practices. The key however, is maintenance and building on this education, as we cannot expect patients to remember all the information given to them initially. Telemedicine is rapidly becoming a wide reaching and convenient way to provide services and support to patients. The aim of this study was to create a mobile application to provide contact lens wearers with knowledge and assistance to empower them to take good care of their eyes and lenses. A mobile application was built for the study with three main features: a lens change reminder, an information feature, and a diagnosis facility to aid contact lens wearers when they encounter any problems. A PDF version of the application was also created with the latter two features; a secondary aim was to compare its success with that of the mobile application. After receiving ethical clearance for the study, lens wearers who signed the Informed Consent form, were surveyed about their symptoms, knowledge and habits in relation to contact lenses and their eyes. After being divided into two groups, they were either given the mobile application or the PDF document to use. They were subsequently given a second survey to determine if there were any changes to symptoms, habits and knowledge. They were also questioned about the value and effectiveness of the application and the PDF. Although, the results of habit changes were inconclusive, there was a decrease in symptoms after using both the app and the PDF. Both were well received and the majority of participants reported that they would recommended them to others. The mobile application was used more frequently than the PDF, led to a slightly better improvement in knowledge, and scored slightly better in its user evaluation, compared to the PDF.
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