(Stock Photo/Andrew Hill) A new study compares the quality of life of pre-teens versus teens following a switch from spectacles to contact lenses.
Contact Lens Wear Offers Benefits for Children and Teens
Delicious Reddit

DECEMBER 13, 2006
By Press Release, PRNewswire

Children under 12 years of age and teenagers both benefit greatly from contact lens wear and perceive an improvement in quality of life one-week and one-month after changing from eyeglasses to contact lenses according to findings from a multi-site study comparing the two groups. After one-month of contact lens wear, parents report no significant difference in wearing time between children 12 or younger and teens, and investigators note that younger wearers are as adept at insertion and removal of contact lenses as teens.
"Children as young as eight years old who need refractive error correction are as capable as teenagers at wearing and caring for soft contact lenses and should be presented with the option of contact lens wear when vision correction is required," says study leader Jeffrey J. Walline, O.D., Ph.D., the Ohio State University College of Optometry. "This study demonstrates that both children and teens derive a number of quality of life benefits, and the most significant improvement is increased confidence in their ability to participate in activities."
The Contact Lens In Pediatrics (CLIP) Study is the first clinical investigation to compare children and teens using silicone hydrogel contact lenses. This section of the study compared the function and quality of life benefits of silicone hydrogel contact lenses among first-time wearers ages 8 to 12 and 13 to 17. The findings were presented today at the American Academy of Optometry annual meeting in Denver.
Children ages 8-12 and teenagers ages 13-17 who participated in the study required vision correction to see optimally. Fifty-seven percent of the subjects were female and 48 percent were white. Following baseline examinations, participants were initially fitted with either ACUVUE(R) ADVANCE(TM) Brand Contact Lenses with HYDRACLEAR(TM) or ACUVUE(R) ADVANCE(TM) for ASTIGMATISM.
Participants completed the Pediatric Refractive Error Profile (PREP) survey at the baseline visit, and a PREP for contact lens wearers at the one- week and one-month visits. The PREP survey compares the vision-specific quality of life between children wearing contact lenses and children wearing glasses. PREP scores are calculated on a scale that ranges from zero (poor quality of life) to 100 (excellent quality of life).
The mean overall PREP for glasses score was similar for both groups -- 63.6 +/- 10.7 for children and 63.0 +/- 9.8 for teens (p=0.12). Likewise, both groups reported similar PREP scores for contact lenses. The children's overall PREP score for contact lenses at one-week was 74.7 +/- 10.4 and the teens' average score was 71.8 +/- 9.2 (p=0.10). At one month, children's overall PREP for contact lenses score was 74.5 +/- 9.6 and teens' average score was 72.1 +/- 8.7 (p=0.23). "The data show that children and teens perceive similar improvement in their quality of life when wearing contact lenses versus glasses," says Dr. Walline.
Separately, parents were queried about their children's wearing time. At one month, parents reported an average contact lens wearing time of 74.4 hours per week for children and 81.2 hours per week for teens (p=0.12). At the one-month visit, parents reported an average contact lens insertion time of 5.9 minutes for children and 4.9 minutes for teens (p=0.30) and an average removal time of 3.6 minutes for children and 2.8 minutes for teens (p=0.12).
"Contact lenses often provide a more convenient mode of correction for young wearers and this study demonstrates that both children and teens can adapt to contact lens wear and derive similar benefits," adds Dr. Walline. "With a wide variety of daily wear, one-day disposable, and ontinuous wear contact lenses in our arsenal, eye care practitioners can work with young patients and their parents to best determine what modality best fits each child's personality, maturity and lifestyle."
Other study parameters examined included short-term safety, vision correction, fitting and training time, and a series of questionnaires completed by patients and their parents. The three-month study was conducted at three sites -- the Ohio State University College of Optometry, the New England College of Optometry and the University of Houston School of Optometry. The study was sponsored by Vistakon(R), Division of Johnson & Johnson Vision Care, Inc.