Demographic and behavioral profile of patients with optic medical indication of contact lenses

Abstract

To assess the demographic and behavioral profile of patients with optic medical indication of contact lenses (CL) in a public hospital in Curitiba. Methods: Cross-sectional questionnaire study of patients who attended the contact lens service of the national health system (SUS) outpatient clinic from the "Hospital de Olhos do Paraná" between September 2nd, 2014 and August 4th, 2015. Results: Of the 69 people interviewed, 56.52% acquired CL. Of these, 55.07% are between 20-49 years old, 69.56% are women, 40.58% had finished high school and 36.23% earned a salary of 2 to 6 times the minimum wage. Rigid lenses prevailed, representing 66.67% of the total, with less than 8 hours of usage in 41.02% of the cases and discomfort during usage was assessed in 59%. The cleaning of CL was done at the moment of insertion and removal in 87.18% of cases, and 71.8% used contact solution. High purchase cost was the main reason for not using CL for 70% of patients who did not use this resource. Conclusions: Of the patients interviewed, 56.52 % started using LC. Keratoconus was the main disease for which CL were indicated. It was demonstrated in this study that patients in question have good guidance on handling and maintenance of LC. Despite the unquestionable advances in medical technology continue to occur the abandonment of the use of this feature mainly the cost and fear of handling. It is the responsibility of the expert clarify the benefits that patients with medical indication will have with the use of LC, as well as encourage their use.