VISTAKON(R) Launches Electronic Contact Lens Reminder Service To Help Improve Contact Lens Compliance

Main Category: Eye Health / Blindness
Also Included In: Compliance;  IT / Internet / E-mail;  Public Health
Article Date: 07 Jun 2007 - 0:00 PDT

email to a friend   printer friendly   view / write opinions   rate article

Contact lens wearers no longer have to worry about forgetting to replace their lenses as recommended by their eye care doctor. Today, VISTAKON(R), Division of Johnson & Johnson Vision Care, Inc. and maker of ACUVUE(R) Brand Contact Lenses, announced the national launch of ACUMINDER(TM), a complimentary online service designed to improve contact lens compliance and eye health for the nation's 38 million contact lens wearers.

The new service was developed following research conducted among more than 3,000 visitors to the ACUVUE website which indicated that contact lens noncompliance is on the rise. In 2005, 59 percent of respondents claimed to change their lenses less often than recommended by their doctor. In 2006, that number skyrocketed to 79 percent.

The results parallel findings from the Americans' Attitudes & Perceptions About Vision Care survey, which was conducted by Harris Interactive(R) on behalf of The Vision Care Institute(TM), LLC, A Johnson & Johnson Company. In that 2006 survey of more than 3,700 Americans, less than half (46 percent) of contact lens wearers agreed that they always replace their contact lenses according to the recommended schedule.

And, according to the survey, younger wearers were less likely to be compliant. Three out of five contact lens wearers aged 30-39 (58 percent) or 40 and older (62 percent) said they were likely to adhere to the recommended schedule, compared to only two out of five (43 percent) contact lens wearers aged 18-29. The survey did not query wearers under the age of 18.

"Adherence to prescribed replacement schedules and recommended wearing schedules, as well as regular return visits to the eye care practitioner for yearly examinations, are essential to good eye health," says Michael Slusky, O.D., a Chicago-based Optometrist. "Failure to comply with any or all of these may result in significant complications and possibly discontinuation of contact lens wear."

Contact lens wearers who register for the free service can elect to receive an automatic reminder via e-mail, cell phone text message, and/or a computer desktop prompt. Registration is open to all contact lens wearers at http://www.acuminder.com.

ACUVUE(R) and VISTAKON(R) and ACUMINDER(TM) are trademarks of Johnson & Johnson Vision Care, Inc.

The Vision Care Institute(TM) is a trademark of The Vision Care Institute, LLC

VISTAKON(R), Division of Johnson & Johnson Vision Care, Inc.
http://www.acuminder.com