Most children ages 8 to 11 years can successfully wear contact lenses, according to a new study.
Researchers at The Ohio State University College of Optometry evaluated the contact lens wear of 116 children ranging in age from 8 to 11 years who participated in the Contact Lenses and Myopia Progression Study. Most children in the study remained in their original treatment group (wearing either gas permeable contact lenses or soft contacts) for a period of three years.
Visual acuity was measured at several follow-up visits throughout the study, and all children completed a questionnaire at each visit to assess several aspects of their contact lens wear, including contact lens discomfort.
Also, children who switched from wearing gas permeable (GP) contacts to wearing soft contact lenses were compared with children who continued to wear GP lenses to determine factors related to dissatisfaction with gas permeable contact lens wear.
Results of the study included:
- 70 percent of GP wearers and 93 percent of soft contact lens wearers wore their assigned lenses to every follow-up visit.
- Children wearing gas permeable lenses wore their lenses significantly fewer hours per week than children wearing soft lenses (mean of 76.2 hours vs. 86.8 hours).
- Children wearing GP lenses demonstrated better visual acuity than the children who wore soft lenses, but though the difference was statistically significant, it was not clinically meaningful.
- More children wearing GP lenses had discomfort complaints than children wearing soft lenses.
Significant factors causing some children to cross over from wearing gas permeable contact to wearing soft lenses were lower wearing times due to discomfort and an “itchy” sensation when wearing GP lenses.
The authors of the study concluded that pre-teen children are able to successfully wear GP and soft contact lenses, though long-term adaptation occurred more frequently when the children were fitted with soft contact lenses.
An abstract of the study was published online on April 8, ahead of publication in a future issue of Optometry & Vision Science, the official journal of the American Academy of Optometry.