title: History and symptom taking in contact lens fitting and aftercare.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To appraise history and symptom taking for contact lens consultations, to determine current practice and to make recommendations for best practice.
  
  
  METHODS
  The peer reviewed academic literature was reviewed and the results informed a survey completed by 256 eye care practitioners (ECPs) on their current practice and influences.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The last eye-test date, last contact lens aftercare (for existing wearers) and reason for visit are key questions for most ECPs. Detailed use of contact lens questions are more commonly applied in aftercares than when refitting patients who have previously discontinued wear (87% vs 56% use), whereas questions on ocular and general history, medication and lifestyle were generally more commonly utilised for new patients than in aftercares (72% vs 50%). 75% of ECPs requested patients bring a list of their medication to appointments. Differential diagnosis questioning was thorough in most ECPs (87% of relevant questions asked). Attempts to optimise compliance included oral instruction (95% always) and written patient instructions (95% at least sometimes). Abbreviations were used by 39% of respondents (26% used ones provided by a professional body).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There is scope for more consistency in history and symptom taking for contact lens consultations and recommendations are made.
authors.affiliation: Ophthalmic Research Group, School of Life and Health Sciences, Aston University, Birmingham B4 7ET, UK. Electronic address: j.s.w.wolffsohn@aston.ac.uk.
authors.forename: James S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Wolffsohn
authors.affiliation: Ophthalmic Research Group, School of Life and Health Sciences, Aston University, Birmingham B4 7ET, UK.
authors.forename: Shehzad A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Naroo
authors.affiliation: Optometry and Visual Sciences, City University, London, UK.
authors.forename: Caroline
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Christie
authors.affiliation: Optometry and Visual Sciences, City University, London, UK; Institute of Optometry, London, UK.
authors.forename: Judith
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Morris
authors.affiliation: Vision & Hearing Sciences Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge, UK.
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Conway
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Life Sciences, The University of Manchester, Manchester, UK.
authors.forename: Carole
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Maldonado-Codina
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Life Sciences, The University of Manchester, Manchester, UK.
authors.forename: Neil
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Retalic
authors.affiliation: Ophthalmic Research Group, School of Life and Health Sciences, Aston University, Birmingham B4 7ET, UK; Optometry and Vision Sciences, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK.
authors.forename: Christine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Purslow
mesh_terms: D000359:Aftercare / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D002983:Clinical Competence / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003261:Contact Lenses / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D008487:Medical History Taking / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D009907:Optometry / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D010349:Patient Compliance / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010353:Patient Education as Topic / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians'; D017755:Prosthesis Fitting / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012030:Refractive Errors / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D063189:Symptom Assessment / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006113:United Kingdom / Q000453:epidemiology
keywords: Abbreviations; Compliance; Differential diagnosis; History; Prescribing influences; Risk factors; Symptoms