PURPOSE: For new contact lens (CL) wearers with astigmatism, such as existing eyeglass wearers (who may also sometimes believe they are not candidates for CLs due to astigmatism), education as well as ease of CL handling and clear vision can be especially important to establish confidence and success. The kalifilcon A daily disposable toric CL (INFUSE for Astigmatism [IfA]) is designed to provide clear, stable vision, while supporting ocular surface homeostasis to improve comfort. Here, we report findings of a real-world evaluation to assess patient experience with the IfA CLs among new CL wearers.

METHODS: Eligible astigmatic patients (≥18 years of age; new or existing CL wearers) were invited by their eye care practitioners (ECPs) to be fitted with IfA CLs and trial them for a 5-day period. Participants subsequently completed an online survey with ≥60% of responses validated by telephone. A two-sided asymptotic binomial test assessed whether a favorable response was indicated in >50% of responses for key attributes.

RESULTS: Of 208 participants who completed the study survey overall, 89 were new CL wearers (70.8% female, mean age 40.3 years). Most (79.8%) reported wearing the IfA CL for all 5 days. Following this period, 83.1% of participants agreed that IfA CLs provide consistently clear vision throughout the day; 90.0% agreed that IfA CLs provided clear vision for physical activities; 86.4% and 86.5% agreed that IfA CLs provided clear vision and were comfortable, respectively, when using a digital device; and in addition, 77.5% agreed IfA CLs helped reduce halos and glare, even in low light. Importantly, 95.5% of new CL wearers agreed that IfA CLs are easy to handle; 92.1% rated their overall opinion as 'good', 'very good', or 'excellent'; 87.6% were likely to continue wear; 93.3% were likely to recommend the IfA CL to friends or family; and 93.3% and 88.8% affirmed the importance of education from ECPs on innovative eye health technologies and wanted to discuss comfort-related CL advances, respectively. Agreement responses were statistically significantly greater than 50% for all key attributes (p<0.001).>

CONCLUSIONS: New CL wearers had a high opinion of the IfA CL, including in terms of consistently clear vision, affirmed it was easy to handle, and indicated they were likely to continue wearing this CL and even recommend it to other CL wearers.