Gwata, Shamiso G.2017-07-202017-07-202017http://hdl.handle.net/11070/2062A research thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Public HealthApproximately hundred and twenty five million people worldwide wear contact lenses (Barr, 2006). The contact lens market is increasing at an alarming rate globally and Namibia is no exception, but there are no known national statistics. Soft contact lens wearers do not comply to their specific lens replacement schedule and continue to present with contact lens discomfort and complications yet they are avoidable. Some of the resulting complications if not treated eventually lead to blindness. Noncompliance leads to deterioration in the wearer‟s health, increasing the amount of time they need services, increase in the time it takes to treat them and increases health expenditure. The aim of this study was to explore and describe the frequency and factors that are associated with soft contact lens replacement noncompliance of wearers in Windhoek. An analytical cross sectional study was conducted using a convenient sampling technique. A structured questionnaire was conducted on voluntary participants. The data was analysed using Epi Info 7 software and setting p values of 0.05 for statistical significance. A total of 118 participants were enrolled into the study. A total of 80% (n=94) were females and 20% (n=24) were male. A total of (n=49) 41.5% of the soft contact lens wearers did not comply to their specific lens replacement schedule. The factors that were associated with noncompliance were gender (p=0.01), age (p=0.012) and employment status (p=0.020). Factors that were not associated with noncompliance were home language, race, education level, income, smoking, type of contact lens worn and number of years of contact lens wear. The most common replacement modality of contact lenses in Windhoek is monthly wear, and most of the participants had worn their contact lenses for an average of 1-3 years. The majority of the participants had also been for their last check up between a year or two ago. The average number of days that each contact lens wearer wore their lenses for was 37 instead of the advised 30 days. Discomfort was the main reason that the soft contact lens wearers replaced their lenses on time. The main reason that participants gave for not replacing their soft contact lenses according to their schedule was that they forgot on which day they were supposed to replace the lens (n=57) 48.3%, the second most popular reason for not replacing the lenses on time was because participants forgot to reorder their next batch of soft contact lenses on time. Very few participants (n=21) 17.8% expressed the view that it was in order to save money. Although (n=49) 41.5 % of the participants were non compliant with their soft contact lens replacement schedule it is important to note that only (n=9) 7.6 % of the participants had ever experienced a serious eye infection. Soft contact lens patients also advised that the best method to help them comply better would be to send a telephonic reminder. The study also encountered some limitations, the initial sample size was calculated to be 384, however the study only attained 118 participants. This is due to the decline in the Namibian Contact lens market, the decline in the Angolan economy has caused a decline in the number of contact lens wearers. The researcher recommended that more time needs to be given when educating soft contact lens wearers. It is also imperative that all soft contact lens wearers need to sign and leave with compulsory written instructions and information, as they do in other countries. If the soft contact lens wearers view the lens as the serious therapeutic ocular device that it is, they will be more compliant with replacing the soft contact lenses on time.enContact lensOphthalmic lensesContact lensesThesis