Year: 2026 | Month: October-December | Volume: 11 | Issue: 4 | Pages: 66-75
DOI: https://doi.org/10.52403/gijhsr.20260408
Psychosocial Benefits of Visual Rehabilitation with Semi-Scleral Contact Lenses in Adult Patients: A Prospective Questionnaire-Based Study
Roshan Prasad Gound1, Ashish V. Suvarnkar1, Mahadev Shegunashi2, Veshal Madan, Neeta Mishra, Susmita Banerjee
1Dr. D.Y. Patil Institute of Optometry and Visual Sciences, Dr. D.Y. Patil Vidyapeeth (Deemed to be University), Pimpri, Pune, Maharashtra, India.
2PBMA's H.V. Desai Eye Hospital, Hadapsar, Pune, Maharashtra, India.
Corresponding Author: Roshan Prasad Gound
ABSTRACT
Background: Visual impairment from corneal ectasia, corneal grafts and ocular surface disease affects the education, employment and social life of young adults. The psychosocial outcomes of semi-scleral contact lens (SSCL) rehabilitation across such mixed indications are reported less often than visual acuity outcomes.
Methods: In this prospective, hospital-based, single-arm pre-post study at PBMA's H.V. Desai Eye Hospital, Pune (July-December 2025), 30 adults aged 18-40 years were fitted with Rose K2 XL 14.9 mm SSCLs. An 11-item bilingual (English/Marathi) questionnaire adapted from the National Eye Institute Visual Function Questionnaire-25 (NEI VFQ-25) was completed before fitting and after 3 months of wear; items were converted to 0-100 domain scores. Changes were tested with Wilcoxon signed-rank tests (Holm-adjusted), with effect sizes, bootstrap confidence intervals, subgroup and regression analyses.
Results: Mean age was 28.7 ± 5.6 years; 18 were male. Diagnoses were keratoconus (n=9), pellucid marginal degeneration (n=8), post-keratoplasty (n=5), post-refractive ectasia (n=4) and dry eye (n=4). Mean daily wear was 9.4 ± 1.2 hours. The overall vision-targeted composite rose from a median of 48.1 (IQR 33.3-55.6) to 96.3 (82.4-100.0); mean change 46.4 points (95% CI 40.5-52.2), and all 30 participants improved. The psychosocial composite (mental health, social functioning, role difficulties, dependency) rose from 50.0 to 100.0 (mean change 41.1, 95% CI 35.3-47.2). All nine vision-targeted domains improved (Holm-adjusted p<0.0001; effect size r 0.77-0.89). The proportion giving the best response to the four psychosocial items increased from 0-7% to 70-77%. Improvement did not differ across diagnoses (Kruskal-Wallis p=0.50) and was larger in those with lower baseline scores.
Conclusion: Three months of semi-scleral lens wear was associated with large, consistent improvements in vision-specific mental health, social functioning, role participation and independence in young adults with visually disabling corneal conditions. Because the design had no comparison group and relied on self-report, controlled studies with longer follow-up are warranted.
Keywords: semi-scleral contact lens; visual rehabilitation; psychosocial outcomes; quality of life; keratoconus; NEI VFQ-25