Heliyon (Jul 2024)

Effect of antihistamine-releasing contact lenses on ocular symptoms and treatment behavior in patients with seasonal allergic conjunctivitis: A retrospective study

  • Kenta Fujio,
  • Jaemyoung Sung,
  • Kunihiko Hirosawa,
  • Masahiro Yamaguchi,
  • Hiroshi Toshida,
  • Keiji Inagaki,
  • Gaku Ishida,
  • Motozumi Itoi,
  • Kazushige Sado,
  • Hiroo Hayatsu,
  • Hirayama Nobutaka,
  • Junji Ono,
  • Hidetaka Taniguchi,
  • Masao Iwagami,
  • Ken Nagino,
  • Yuichi Okumura,
  • Akie Midorikawa-Inomata,
  • Yasutsugu Akasaki,
  • Tianxiang Huang,
  • Yuki Morooka,
  • Tomoko Okuyama,
  • Shintaro Nakao,
  • Akira Murakami,
  • Hiroyuki Kobayashi,
  • Takenori Inomata

Journal volume & issue
Vol. 10, no. 13
p. e33385

Abstract

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Purpose: This study aimed to compare subjective allergic conjunctivitis symptoms and anti-allergic eye drop use patterns between antihistamine-releasing contact lens users and daily disposable soft contact lens users during Japan's hay fever season. Methods: This web-based retrospective cohort study included daily disposable soft contact lens or antihistamine-releasing contact lens users with a history of seasonal allergic conjunctivitis who regularly used daily disposable soft contact lenses since the previous year. The total ocular symptom score (range 0–20) based on 5-item questionnaire scores and time from the start of the hay fever season to the initiation of anti-allergic eye drop treatment were compared between antihistamine-releasing contact lens users and daily disposable soft contact lens users. Results: The study included 24 participants: 17 using daily disposable soft contact lenses and 7 using antihistamine-releasing contact lenses. Antihistamine-releasing contact lens users experienced a greater reduction in total ocular symptom score from 2021 to 2022 compared with daily disposable soft contact lens users (mean total ocular symptom score [standard deviation]: daily disposable soft contact lens: −0.65 [1.4], antihistamine-releasing contact lens: −4.7 [3.6]; n = 24; Mann–Whitney U test, P = 0.010). Fourteen daily disposable soft contact lens users and five antihistamine-releasing contact lens users eventually required anti-allergic eye drops. Kaplan–Meier analysis revealed a significant delay in the initiation of anti-allergic eye drop treatment among those using antihistamine-releasing contact lenses compared with those using daily disposable soft contact lenses (median days, daily disposable soft contact lenses: 19 days, antihistamine-releasing contact lens: 57 days; n = 24; log-rank test, P = 0.045). Conclusions: Antihistamine-releasing contact lenses can potentially mitigate worsening ocular allergic responses during the hay fever season when used appropriately as a preventive measure.

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