Contact lens wear and follow‐up and its association with signs and symptoms of meibomian gland dysfunction.

Introduction: This study investigated the equivocal association between contact lens (CL) wear and meibomian gland dysfunction (MGD) by comparing the morphological, functional and subjective outcomes of CL wearers versus control, non‐CL wearers. CL wearers were examined as two cohorts based on the annual attendance of follow‐up visits (FLU—attended these visits, whereas non‐FLU did not). Methods: Habitual logMAR visual acuity, invasive and non‐invasive tear break‐up time, Schirmer test, Efron grading scales, meibum quality score (MQS), meibum expressibility score (MES), meibomian gland (MG) loss, lid margin abnormalities and subjective dry eye (DE) symptoms were assessed. Results: Of the 128 participants, 31 were in the FLU cohort, 43 were in the non‐FLU cohort and 54 were controls (mean ages: 22.2 ± 3.1, 23.0 ± 4.6 and 22.3 ± 3.5, respectively). Non‐FLU CL wearers had more symptoms than controls (3.7 ± 2.4 vs. 2.3 ± 2.1, p < 0.01). Morphologically, FLU (16.9 ± 8.8%, p = 0.02) and non‐FLU (18.6 ± 11.3%, p = 0.001) had more MG loss than controls (11.2 ± 6.8%). Functionally, FLU (0.6 ± 0.7, p = 0.01) and non‐FLU (0.8 ± 0.9, p = 0.001) had worse MES than controls (0.2 ± 0.5). FLU and non‐FLU were both associated with corneal staining (odds ratio [OR] = 3.42, 95% CI: 1.16–10.11, p = 0.03 and OR = 5.23, 95% CI: 1.89–14.48, p = 0.001, respectively) and MG loss (OR = 10.47, 95% CI: 1.14–96.29, p = 0.04 and OR = 16.63, 95% CI: 1.96–140.86, p = 0.01, respectively). Non‐FLU CL wear was also associated with abnormal MQS (OR = 12.87, 95% CI: 1.12–148.41, p = 0.04), conjunctival staining (OR = 12.18, 95% CI: 3.66–40.51, p < 0.001) and lid margin telangiectasia (OR = 3.78, 95% CI: 1.55–9.21, p = 0.003). MGD was three times more prevalent in CL wearers (12%) than in controls (4%). Conclusions: Both CL‐wearing cohorts demonstrated significantly more MG abnormalities than controls though the difference was not clinically significant. Non‐FLU CL wearers had more DE symptoms. Non‐FLU CL wear is an independent predictor for more abnormalities than FLU CL wear, emphasising the importance of follow‐ups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]