Prominent Australian optometrists; Dr Laura Downie, Professor Mark Willcox and Professor Fiona Stapleton; are among the authors of a new global consensus report on prescribing and fitting contact lenses (CL) to be launched in March.
The report, Contact Lens Evidence-based Academic Reports (CLEAR), will be published in the British Cornea and Contact Lens Association (BCLA) journal Contact Lens and Anterior Eye. It will deliver evidence-based guidance to eye care professionals around the world as part of a concerted drive to provide the best possible patient care.
Made possible by educational grants from Alcon and CooperVision, CLEAR will set the standard to which researchers and eye care professionals will refer for the latest information in the field and will also highlight potential opportunities for future research. It will be made available to both BCLA members and non-members.
It will deliver evidence-based guidance to eye care professionals around the world as part of a concerted drive to provide the best possible patient care
Executive Chair of CLEAR, Professor James Wolffsohn, said, “Putting together these reports has been an amazing journey of discovery, bringing together gems of evidence to inform clinical practice, identifying areas where further research is needed and determining where there are opportunities for new innovations from industry.
“The collaboration between experts in the field of contact lenses and the anterior eye has been inspiring and productive, despite the enforced ‘virtual’ nature of the interactions. We look forward to disseminating the findings globally as soon as the reports are published.”
CLEAR will feature 10 overview papers, each compiled by a panel chaired by internationally renowned experts. The topics areas and panel chairs are:
- Anatomy and Physiology of the Anterior Eye – Dr Laura Downie
- Biochemistry of lens materials, coating, comfort drops and solutions – Professor Mark Willcox
- Effect of lens materials/design on the anatomy and physiology of the eye – Professor Philip Morgan
- Speciality lenses – OrthoK – Professor Stephen Vincent and Professor Pauline Cho
- Speciality lenses – Sclerals – Dr Melissa Barnett
- Contact lens complications – Professor Fiona Stapleton
- Medical use of contact lenses – Associate Professor Debbie Jacobs
- Contact lens optics – Dr Kathryn Richdale
- Future applications of contact lenses – Professor Lyndon Jones
- Evidence based contact lens practice – Professor James Wolffsohn
How to Receive the Report
The CLEAR report will be published in the BCLA journal Contact Lens and Anterior Eye (CLAE). BCLA members will receive a copy of the CLEAR report as part of their member benefits. Non-members can either join the BCLA ahead of the report publication or subscribe to CLAE via the Elsevier site.
Editor in Chief Dr Shehzad Naroo said, “CLAE is honoured to be the vehicle to deliver the CLEAR reports to the contact lens community. The CLEAR reports are a unique achievement from all those involved, especially the Chair, Vice-Chair and Panel Chairs.
“They represent the benchmark of the current knowledge base, that will be useful for practitioners, students, researchers and industry colleagues for years to come.”
Vice-Chair of CLEAR, Professor Philip Morgan from the University of Manchester, said: “I believe that the CLEAR special issue of Contact Lens and Anterior Eye will act as an outstanding resource for eye care practitioners worldwide, bringing together all the latest information about clinical research in the field and, in doing so, enhancing patient care.”
