ASSESSMENT OF OPTOMETRY STUDENTS VERSUS OTHER HEALTH PROFESSIONAL STUDENT AWARENESS OF THE CLASSIFICATION OF CONTACT LENSES AS MEDICAL DEVICES (CCLAM) STUDY

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Objective. This study was conducted to compare first and second year optometry students' baseline knowledge of contact lenses as a medical device to that of other health professional students. Background. Contacts lenses are worn to correct vision, enhance visual function, and for cosmetic reasons. It is important that contact lens wearers are aware that contact lenses are considered a medical device and should not be worn without first seeking guidance 59 from an eye care provider. Methods. For this study a one-time survey was administered to both optometry and other non-optometry health professional students. A six to seven question survey (branched logic) was created. The designated link for each group was posted to each health professional's Facebook (Menlo Park, CA) group with a brief paragraph explaining the survey. Data was collected with SNAP software (Portsmouth, NH). Results. The optometry group had similar baseline knowledge that contact lenses with prescription are a medical device (82% versus 88%) and less baseline knowledge that contact lenses without a prescription are a medical device (12% versus 46%) as compared to the other students. Twelve percent of the optometry group and six percent of the other students reported purchasing lenses without a prescription. Conclusion. Understanding heath professional student awareness of contact lenses as medical devices can be important in how we educate our students and how they in turn educate their future patients. Further efforts are needed to educate the public that decorative contact lenses are medical devices that require a prescription. Grants. N/A.