Dual-focus contact lens could abate childhood myopia

A novel, disposable contact lens may effectively slow the progression of myopia in children, according to strong results from a 3-year trial.

Findings presented at the British Contact Lens Association Clinical Conference showed that continued wear of CooperVision’s dual-focus 1-day soft lens–which features alternating visual correction and treatment zones­–significantly reduced the rate of juvenile-onset myopia compared with a single-vision 1-day lens control.

The multicenter, randomized, double-masked trial included 144 myopic children aged 8 to 12 years, enrolled from 4 countries. After 3 years, children who wore the dual-focus lenses displayed 59% less advancement of mean cycloplegic spherical equivalent and 52% less mean axial elongation than children in the control group.

The lens was well tolerated among patients, with nearly 90% of their parents reporting at the end of follow-up that their children were “extremely happy” with the overall experience. The children also appeared to adapt quickly to use of the dual-focus lenses. Investigators found no more interference to daily activities such as school work, reading, playing outside or computer use than a normal contact lens, and children were mostly able to manage their lenses independently.

Additionally, the parents were pleased with the system from an early stage. Prior to trial initiation, less than half of parents were “extremely at ease” with their child wearing contacts, yet this proportion jumped to 79% after only 1 month and remained high throughout the remainder of the trial.

“Early intervention by parents, in partnership with eye care professionals, is essential the near- and long-term health and well-being of their children,” said CooperVision CTO Arthur Back, PhD. “The CooperVision MiSight® dual-focus 1-day lens used in this study provides a new, effective and repeatable approach.”