INTRODUCTION

The new frontier in the discipline of the realization of progressive lenses is currently represented by custom lenses, which designed, built and centered according to the anatomical and behavioral needs of the patient’s visual apparatus. 

Until a few years ago everything was relayed on ophthalmologist or optometrist prescriber as well as the precision optician fitter and retailer, today these results can be achieved with the use of Individual Studio (SBM™ Sistems technology) which, in addition to ensuring an absolute precision in the relief of patient’s physical parameters, ensures a standardization of the results able to increase patient compliance in a statistically significant way to the use of progressive lenses even in complicated situations anisometropia.

PURPOSE

To assess the compliance of homogeneous groups of anisometropic patients, to whom it is complicated to customized progressive lens and degree of subjective and objective satisfaction of the vision vision achieved with and without use of the contact lenses.

“Individual Studio” in association with the software technology “Glass Studio”.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

In total, we have been prescribed multifocal lenses between November 2008 and February 2009.

In this study 422 patients were selected. Of these, 240 patients had never used progressive lenses, 64 had already experienced this type of lenses, but had abandoned because they were dissatisfied and 118 were already habitual wearers of progressive lenses.

All patients were selected using the following:

CRITERIA OF INCLUSION

  • BCVA (Best Corrected Visual Acuity) not less than 7/10 in at least one eye
  • Presbyopia of any grade
  • Refractive defect of between -8.00 and + 4.00 sphere, and between -2.50 and +2.00 cylinder (any axis).

CRITERIA OF ESCLUSION

  • BCVA less than 7/10 at least one eye
  • Retinal diseases (macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, hypertensive retinopathy) or degenerative (chronic open angle glaucoma) with confirmation of damage of the central visual field and / or peripheral
  • Opacity of dioptric media
  • Previous eye operations with the exception of phacoemulsification with IOL implantation
  • Strabismus of whatever order and gender (correctable with prismatic base)
  • Neurological and / or cognitive deficits.

A simple test was administered to the patients enrolled in this study, aged between 44 and 86 years (mean age 65 years) sighted and heterogeneous for age, sex, level of education, occupation, general and BCVA health, finding survey on satisfaction of their quality of vision as well as on the current correction in use.

The same test has been proposed again after fifteen days in the port of the prescribed progressive lenses. (See Annex 1)

All patients at enrollment, performed the following specialist examinations:

  • Through eye examination and fundus examination in mydriasis pharmacological
  • Orthoptic visit
  • Optometric visit
  • Visual field examination
  • Analysis of the eye field.

As a result of the examinations carried the cohort of patients was divided, depending on the visual problem encountered, in the following homogeneous groups:

  • GROUP A: patients ametropic balanced with no more than 2 diopters of difference in the he two eyes (value calculated spherical equivalent)
  • GROUP C: pseudophakic patients
  • GROUP D: antimetropic patients

Each subgroup was again divided into two subgroups of equal abundance. The α subgroup was used as the study group and the β group as a control group. 

The division into two subgroups was carried out at random and randomized double-blind at the time of the first visit.

All patients involved in this study were prescribed a correction with progressive lenses and the realization of the glasses was carried out by the same optical editors and retailers.

All patients included in subgroups Aα, Bα, Cα, and Dα were also examined with the Individual Study and at the time of sale the glasses you used the Glass Studio software. Individual Study examined the following parameters:

  • Pupillar distance
  • Vertex distance
  • Pantoscopic angle
  • Data centering and parameters of the mount
  • Reading distance / near work
  • Wrap angle.

The software was used to bring the patient to choose the type of progressive lens to be used (organic lenses, minerals, aspherical …) and to display the glasses chosen before ordering closure.

All sensitive data of patients enrolled in this study were treated in full compliance with applicable laws regarding the protection of privacy.

RESULTS

The results of tests administered before and after study of the enrolled patients were divided into positive and negative (see following tables).

Overall, 96% of patients enrolled in the subgroups α and 87.5% of patients in subgroups β have declared full satisfaction of the visual performance achieved with new prescription. This difference was statistically significant. This difference was more relevant in the most complex patient groups (pseudophakic (Group C) and antimetropic (Group D)).

Considering three main cohorts of patients satisfaction in the quality of vision achieved by patients who had abandoned progressive lenses since dissatisfied was double in subcategories α (86%) compared to those β (43%).

In this cohort it belonged all of antimetropic patients and approximately 2/3 of the patients strongly anisometropi.
Opticians who have collaborated in this study reported that they had found great satisfaction from clients who could choose custom progressive lenses using the SBM Sistem software.

CONCLUSION

The use of Individual Studio in prescribing personalized progressive lenses proved irreplaceable element in achieving a good visual comfort for the patient since the early days of the port.

Use of the software Glass Studio to assist the patient in choosing their own customized progressive glasses is the result of invaluable help to the professional optometrist in ensuring a full understanding by the buyer as well as the achievement of full customer satisfaction.