Knowledge and practice of contact lens care among medical students and its relation to allergic conjunctivitis

Objective: To assess the knowledge and practice of contact lens (CL) care among students of Wah Medical College and to find out its relation to allergic conjunctivitis. Methods: It was a cross sectional study carried out at Wah Medical College from January 2013 to June 2013, in which 100 students were selected randomly. After receiving informed consent from the participants, they were enquired about different aspects of wearing contact lens and its complications by using a questionnaire that covered all aspects of study objective. Results were summed up and statistically analyzed using SPSS 19.0. Results: 24% of the contact lens users had good knowledge, 55% had average and the remaining 21% had poor knowledge about the care of contact lens. 11% had good, 51% had average and the remaining 38% had poor practices regarding use of CL. Only 19% students had experienced symptoms of allergic conjunctivitis while the rest 81% continued wearing their lenses without any problem. Statistically insignificant results were found in relation to frequency of allergic conjunctivitis and level of knowledge (p value 0.10) and level of practice (p value 0.13). Conclusion: Majority of the students had average knowledge and practice about contact lens care. The occurrence of allergic conjunctivitis was low and no relationship was found between level of knowledge/practice and frequency of allergic conjunctivitis.