title: Prevalence, use and sale of contact lenses in Saudi Arabia: survey on university women and non-ophthalmic stores.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess the prevalence and general knowledge of contact lens (CL) wear among women users and to examine the practice of CL dispensation by non-ophthalmic stores.
  
  
  METHODS
  One thousand four hundred and sixty-six female university students, between 16 and 31 years of age, and 1766 registered beauty stores in the region were randomly interviewed using self-administered questionnaires. The questions addressed general care/handling of CLs, CL case and solution hygiene practices by patients, the CL selection available in the shops, the type of instructions given to consumers, and who gives these instructions.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The prevalence of CL use was 70.2% (1029/1466). Fifty percent were part time users of CLs, and cosmetic reasons were the major reason (63.3%) for CL use. Approximately 38.7% of the respondents used CL without consultation with an eye care practitioner. The main purchasing locations were optical shops (51%), beauty salons (38%), and pharmacies (11%). Concerning contact lens care, 89.4% of the respondents adequately washed their hands before handling CLs and 72.7% changed their solutions daily, while 7.7% admitted to occasional overnight wear of their CL and 27.6% sometimes shared their CLs with friends. Interestingly, 80.3% of the 1327 shops sold CLs with no prescription, and 61.4% gave no instructions to the patients during purchase.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There is a high prevalence of CL use by female university students in Saudi Arabia, especially for cosmetic purposes. Although, there was good awareness with regard to general lens care practices, some users shared their lenses with friends, and the rate of sale of CLs without prescriptions in ordinary shops was high.
authors.affiliation: Department of Optometry & Vision Sciences, College of Applied Medical Sciences, King Saud University, P.O. Box 10219, Riyadh 11433, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Mohammed
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Abahussin
authors.affiliation: Department of Optometry & Vision Sciences, College of Applied Medical Sciences, King Saud University, P.O. Box 10219, Riyadh 11433, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Muteb
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: AlAnazi
authors.affiliation: Department of Optometry & Vision Sciences, College of Applied Medical Sciences, King Saud University, P.O. Box 10219, Riyadh 11433, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Kelechi C
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: Ogbuehi
authors.affiliation: Department of Optometry & Vision Sciences, College of Applied Medical Sciences, King Saud University, P.O. Box 10219, Riyadh 11433, Saudi Arabia. Electronic address: uosuagwu@ksu.edu.sa.
authors.forename: Uchechukwu L
authors.initials: UL
authors.lastname: Osuagwu
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003258:Consumer Behavior / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003261:Contact Lenses / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D009907:Optometry / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D057240:Patient Preference / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010594:Pharmacies / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D055656:Prescriptions / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D015995:Prevalence; D012030:Refractive Errors / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D012529:Saudi Arabia / Q000453:epidemiology; D013334:Students / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D014495:Universities / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014600:Utilization Review; D016387:Women's Health / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Contact lens; Eye care practitioner; Ophthalmic; Prevalence; Saudi Arabia; Survey