Soft Contact Lenses Do Not Lead to 'Myopic Creep' in Children, S...( Largest randomized trial of its k...),Health

Largest randomized trial of its kind shows no clinically meaningful difference between contacts and glasses for progression of nearsightedness

JACKSONVILLE, Fla., Nov. 12 /PRNewswire/ -- Soft contact lens wear does not result in clinically significant acceleration in the development of nearsightedness in children and does not cause relevant increases in axial length or corneal curvature, a new study shows. Findings from the three-year study, the largest randomized trial of its kind, appear in the November issue of Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science, the official journal of The Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology.

According to the multi-site wearing trial study, which tracked the myopic progression of 484 children ages 8-11 randomly assigned to wear glasses or contact lenses, there is no clinically meaningful difference between the two forms of vision correction for the treatment of nearsightedness, a vision problem experienced by approximately one-third of the population.

The new research further dispels a long held myth that soft contact lenses increase myopia progression (a/k/a "Myopic Creep") in children more than other vision correction options.

"Children as young as eight years old who require vision correction are capable of contact lens wear and this study confirms that they can safely be fit in soft contact lenses to correct their myopia," says Jeffrey J. Walline, O.D., Ph.D., Ohio State University College of Optometry and leader of the Adolescent and Child Health Initiative to Encourage Vision Empowerment (ACHIEVE) Study, of which this research was a part.

"Recent clinical studies have demonstrated that contact lenses provide a number of quality of life benefits to children beyond simply correcting their myopia," he adds. "The combined body of research should give both doctors and parents greater confidence in presenting children with the option of contact lens wear when vision correction
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