Few Americans Taking Care of Eyesight

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Few Americans Taking Care of Eyesight

LANSING, Mich. (November 26, 2007) – Bad habits are hard to break when it comes to eye health. A recent survey from the American Optometric Association (AOA) shows that Americans are continuing to practice poor eye care – despite the fact that they view their eyesight as their most valued sense.

After viewing the survey results, members of the Michigan Optometric Association (MOA) are asking Michigan residents to take better care of this vital sense by getting annual eye exams, avoiding eye strain, eating the right foods and cleaning contact lenses properly.

According to the AOA’s 2007 American Eye-Q® survey, almost half of respondents indicated eyesight as the sense they most worry about losing, yet admitted to knowingly engaging in behaviors that could be harmful to their eyes and vision, including poor contact-lens hygiene and avoiding eye exams. The annual American Eye-Q® survey identifies attitudes and behaviors of Americans regarding eye care and related issues.

The survey found common misconceptions about eye-related health, such as identifying foods most beneficial to eye health (it is spinach, not carrots), and the inability to identify behaviors that are most harmful to eye health. For example, 83 percent thought reading by dim light or sitting too close to the television were most harmful to the eyes, rather than more harmful behaviors such as smoking, eye-rubbing, drinking alcohol or caffeine.

According to Dr. Mark Swan, president of the Michigan Optometric Association, “Many eye and vision conditions present no obvious symptoms. Therefore, individuals are often unaware that a problem exists. Early diagnosis and treatment are important for maintaining good vision and preventing permanent vision loss.”

The AOA survey found that 32 percent of respondents who wear contact lenses or glasses hadn’t seen a doctor within the past year.

Contact lens safety and hygiene proved another area of concern. Seventy nine percent of respondents admitted to practicing poor contact lens hygiene on a regular basis, including showering, swimming and sleeping in contacts not approved for overnight wear, as well as wearing contacts longer than the suggested timeframe.

“Contact lenses are among the safest forms of vision correction when patients comply with the care and wearing instructions provided by their optometrist,” said Dr. Swan. “Because lenses are so comfortable, it’s easy for people to get careless. However, failure to follow proper contact lens hygiene can cause trauma and infection which can lead to permanent vision loss.”

The MOA recommends the following steps for contact lens wearers:

Always wash your hands before handling contact lenses.
Carefully and regularly clean contact lenses, as directed by your optometrist.
Store lenses in the proper case, and replace the case at least every three months. Clean the case after each use, and keep it open and dry between cleanings.
Use only products recommended by your optometrist to clean and disinfect your lenses. Saline solution and rewetting drops are not designed to disinfect lenses.
Always use fresh solution to clean and store contact lenses. Never re-use old solution. Contact lens solution must be replaced, according to the manufacturer's recommendations, even if the lenses are not used daily.
Replace lenses on the schedule prescribed by your optometrist.
Remove contact lenses before swimming or entering a hot tub.
See your optometrist for regular lens and eye examinations.

Regular Visits to the Optometrist

Even though Americans need to see an eye specialist to get prescriptions for new lenses or glasses, a surprising percentage of respondents admitted they are lax about scheduling regular eye exams. Thirty-two percent of Americans who wear contact lenses or glasses said they have not visited an eye doctor within the past year.

Respondents who wear corrective glasses or lenses aren’t the only ones who aren’t protecting their eyes as well as they could be. Survey respondents who don’t use any corrective lenses also do not visit an eye doctor or eye specialist as often as they should; 35 percent admitted they have not visited an eye specialist for five years or longer.

Another 11 percent of non-users said they get an eye exam only every three or four years. And 22 percent of non-users said they have never had their eyes checked by an eye doctor or eye care specialist.

“Periodic optometric examinations are a critical part of a person’s preventive health care routine,” said Dr. Swan. “Young adults can often benefit from improved vision and safety in their jobs or recreation even though the prevalence of eye disease is low. However, risk factors such as being over 50 years of age, having high blood pressure or high cholesterol, or having family members with eye diseases like glaucoma makes eye disease much more common and annual exams are recommended.”

Eye Diseases

Most respondents demonstrated a basic understanding of the relationship between healthy eyes and a healthy body. Specifically:

Most (64 percent) knew that diabetes can be detected through a comprehensive eye exam, however, only 41 percent knew that a person with diabetes should have an eye exam at least once a year.
More than half (51 percent) knew that hypertension also can be detected through a comprehensive eye exam.
And almost half (49 percent) knew that such exams can even identify brain tumors.

Fewer than half (37 percent) knew that a comprehensive eye exam can detect conditions including cardiovascular disease, some cancers (41 percent) and multiple sclerosis (22 percent).

Common Misconceptions

Results of the 2007 American Eye-Q® survey suggest that more education is needed to help people distinguish myth from fact. For example, while most survey respondents had an opinion as to the leading cause of blindness in the U.S., only 24 percent correctly identified the cause as macular degeneration.

Other common misconceptions about eye health uncovered by the survey included:

Two thirds (67 percent) of Americans believe that glaucoma is preventable with proper eye care.
Fewer than half (45 percent) know that during pregnancy, women may need to change their corrective lens prescription.

For some things, perhaps wisdom comes with age: 44 percent of Baby Boomers (born 1946-1964) knew to use a cold compress to reduce under-eye puffiness, versus only 30 percent of Gen-Xers (born 1965-1978).

“The good news is that taking care of your eyes, glasses and contact lenses is simple and routine for most people,” said Dr. Swan. “I find that the more people know about their eyes and their overall health, the more likely they are to get routine eye care and avoid the troubles associated with delayed diagnosis and treatment.”

To locate a Michigan Optometric Association doctor, visit www.themoa.org and click the Vision Care tab. For additional information on eye health, please visit www.aoa.org.

[Editor’s Note: Dr. Mark Swan, president of the Michigan Optometric Association, is available for interviews. Please contact Defausha Hampton at (313) 567-5031.]

About the Survey:

The second American Eye-Q® survey was commissioned by Opinion Research Corporation (ORC). Using a random digit dialing methodology, ORC conducted interviews with 1,000 Americans 18 years and older who embodied a nationally representative sample of U.S. households. The margin of error is ±3.1 percent for the general population. All data is weighted to represent the U.S. general populations with respect to gender, geographic region and age group.

About the Michigan Optometric Association

The mission of the Michigan Optometric Association is to unite all licensed optometrists and be the representative voice for the profession of optometry in Michigan. The association provides education, information and other member services to assist optometrists in practicing successfully in accordance with the highest standards of patient care; works to advance the quality and accessibility of optometric services throughout the state and seeks to ensure the recognition of optometrists as the primary providers of vision and related eye health care.

About the American Optometric Association
The American Optometric Association represents more than 34,000 doctors of optometry, optometry students and paraoptometric assistants and technicians. Optometrists serve patients in nearly 6,500 communities across the country, and in 3,500 of those communities are the only eye doctors.

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