Clinical evaluation of fitting presbyopic patients with contact lenses.

This clinical investigation was performed to determine the success of using a system designed as a flow chart to fit presbyopic patients with contact lenses. The value of this type of system is to provide practitioners with a simple step-by-step approach to fitting presbyopic patients and reducing the costs of several trial fitting sets. Patients were fit with monovision, simultaneous vision bifocal, alternating vision bifocal or diffractive bifocal contact lenses. The patients were fit first with monovision, and, if unsuccessful with this or any of the above lens designs, they proceeded to the next stage. Stage 2 used the simultaneous lens design, Stage 3 the alternating lens design and Stage 4 the diffractive lens design. Of the 22 patients enrolled in the study, 17 (77.3 percent) were successful through Stage 3 and 18 (81.8 percent) were successful through Stage 4. The first three stages are those proposed by Bausch & Lomb as the Presbyopic Fitting System. The Presbyopic Fitting System was found to be simple to follow and successful in fitting presbyopic patients.