Menicon listens to young contact lens wearers

Results of the “contact lenses and under 25” study

Menicon was the first company to invest in developing the fitting of contact lenses among young people with the Z Junior pack for young people up to 16, and (for reasons of maximum safety and quality of vision) primarily recommends ultra-permeable rigid lenses.
For soft lens wearers, emphasising safety as always, Menicon has opted for replacement every two weeks with the new Menicon PremiO silicone hydrogel lenses.

To understand the dynamics of the young contact lens wearer market, Menicon entrusted Galileo with a study conducted among 127 contact lens ophthalmologists, analysing 2956 prescriptions of lenses for people under 25 in June 2009.  
On average, each ophthalmologist fitted 23 wearers under 25 years old.

Typology of under-25 wearers

The population in this study is 64 % female (graph 1). A higher percentage of aesthetic requirements is observed among girls from the age of 13 onwards.
In June 2009, although juniors under 16 still represent only a third of the young people fitted with contact lenses (graph 2), half of the new wearers are under 16, with a high proportion (37 %) between 13 and 16.
Wearers replacing their lenses are older (80 % are over 17), demonstrating the success of contact lenses among young people over time.
It should be noted that more than half of the wearers in this study were fitted for the first time before the age of 16, and for 42 % of them (girls or boys) the age when they first wore contact lenses is between 13 and 16 (graph 3).

Close-up on Rigid Gas Permeable (RGP) lenses

The first choice of ophthalmologists, who fit more than one child in two with rigid gas permeable lenses before the age of 12 before switching later to a higher proportion of soft lens prescriptions (graph 4).
The rigid gas permeable lens segment is dynamic with 60 % new wearers.
The target population is young: 54 % are under 16, with young teenagers (13 to 16 year olds) alone representing 30 % of RGP lens wearers (graph 5); they are satisfied with this type of lens, 84 % staying with rigid gas permeable lenses when they replace their lenses.

Innovation of silicone hydrogel materials

The new silicone hydrogel materials are prescribed in 70 % of soft lens fittings in this study in June 2009, replacement every two weeks already being recommended in 30 % of cases.
Silicone hydrogel lens wearers are older than rigid gas permeable lens wearers: 72% are in the 17 to 25 age group (graph 6).

An active contact lens market with prescribers mobilised and motivated to fit young people as early as possible, opting overwhelmingly for rigid gas permeable lenses for the youngest wearers…
and the new silicone hydrogel lenses for the oldest.