Dual-focus contact lens can keep kids from becoming short-sighted

Washington: Parents worried about their kids' myopia or nearsightedness, can now relax as a new study has found that dual-focus contact lens, which have alternating visual correction and treatment zones, can help them.

The three-year study showed that the dual-focus contact lens was effective in slowing myopia progression: 59 percent as measured by mean cycloplegic spherical equivalent (SE) and 52 percent as measured by mean axial elongation of the eye when compared to the children in the control group wearing a single vision 1-day contact lens. In a featured podium session, CooperVision Senior Manager of Clinical Research Paul Chamberlain reviewed three-year results from the clinical trial assessing a specially-designed, dual-focus myopia control 1-day soft contact lens in reducing the rate of progression of juvenile-onset myopia.

They analysed 144 myopic children aged eight to 12 years from Singapore, Canada, England and Portugal. The contact lens-based approach does not induce common side effects exhibited by some alternative pharmacological therapies.

Chief Technology Officer for CooperVision, Arthur Back said that myopia's growth has been dizzying and now affects the vast majority of young adults in some countries, especially in East Asia. Back added that not only does it create blurred vision, but also increases the likelihood of conditions later in life such as glaucoma, cataract, retinal detachment and myopic maculopathy if not addressed.

Early intervention by parents, in partnership with eye care professionals, is essential the near- and long-term health and well-being of their children, the authers explained. The results indicated that the dual focus lens were well accepted by children and did not affect their daily activities such as school work, reading, playing outside, and computer use when compared to the control group2.

Children in both the test and control groups had a higher satisfaction with contact lenses over spectacles. After their children had worn MiSight 1 day contact lenses for three years, almost nine out of 10 parents rated their children 'extremely happy' with the overall experience of wearing contact lenses3. The outcomes were presented at the British Contact Lens Association Clinical Conference in Liverpool, England.