Bifocal contact lens staying power benefits young children

New research shows that young myopic children who wear bifocal contact lenses slow uncoordinated eye growth without losing the benefits of treatment once they stop wearing them.

The study is a follow-up to a clinical trial published in 2020 that showed that soft multifocal contact lenses with high-dose reading capabilities significantly slowed the further progression of myopia in children as young as 7 years old. The researchers wondered whether stopping the treatment would cause eye growth rates to return to normal levels, thereby eliminating the benefits of the treatment.

In the new trial, children with myopia wore high-add bifocal lenses for two years and then single-vision contact lenses for one year. The results showed that there was no evidence of reduced treatment effectiveness and that myopia continued to progress at the rate expected for age.

“We want doctors to understand that you don’t lose the benefits of this treatment,” said Jeffrey Walline, a professor of optometry at Ohio State University and chairman of the program, known as BLINK. Bifocal lenses) Myopia children) study.

“But more importantly, we hope through this research to provide patients with healthier eyes, at a lower cost and with more choices. Then in adulthood, we hope they can function fully and have clear vision .

The new follow-up study, called BLINK2, was released today (January 16, 2025) exist American Medical Association Ophthalmology. Both trials were conducted at Ohio State University and the University of Houston.

In myopia, the eye grows and stretches into an elongated shape. This abnormality increases the risk of cataracts, retinal detachment, glaucoma, and myopic macular degeneration, all of which can lead to vision loss, even with glasses or contact lenses.

Myopia is also common, affecting at least one-third of adults in the United States, and is becoming more common—scientifically, because children now spend less time outdoors than in the past. Myopia tends to begin between the ages of 8 and 10 and progress until around age 18, when most people’s eyes may continue to grow without becoming more nearsighted.

Multifocal contact lenses designed for people with myopia correct clear distance vision and have the power to enable middle-aged eyes to read clearly at close work.

In the original study, 294 myopic children aged 7 to 11 were randomly assigned to one of three groups of contact lens wearers. Three years later, those children who wore lenses with the highest added power (2.50 diopters) had shorter eyes and slower progression of myopia than children in the other two groups.

Of the original participants, 248 went on to participate in BLINK2, during which all (aged 11 to 17 years at the time) wore high-value lenses for two years and then single vision contact lenses for a third year, which was A way to see if there is a benefit.

At the end of BLINK2, eye growth returns to the age-expected rate, and there is no evidence that the eyes are growing faster than normal. Participants in the initial BLINK high-add group continued to have shorter eyes and less myopia at the end of BLINK2, meaning that those who started using high-add bifocal lenses in BLINK2 did not catch up with those who started using high-add bifocal lenses in BLINK2 Participants receiving treatment.

“When children stop wearing contact lenses, their myopia progression increases, but without treatment, it only reaches normal levels. Regardless of their age when they stop wearing bifocal lenses,” said Wolin, acting dean of the Ohio State University College of Optometry. No matter how old you are, this happens.

This study and others have led to advances in the field of treatment for children with myopia: Options include multifocal contact lenses, contact lenses that reshape the cornea during sleep (called orthokeratology), and atropine eye drops.

“This is an emerging field,” Walling said. “The standard of care has shifted from providing children with single vision glasses or contact lenses to something that slows the progression of myopia or the growth of the eye.”

Waring and his colleagues are now seeking funding for a clinical trial to see if it is possible to delay the onset of myopia in young children by administering atropine eye drops before myopia is detected.

“We know that the earlier you develop myopia, the more myopia you develop as an adult. So if we can delay the onset of myopia, we can make a big difference,” he said.

BLINK is funded by the National Eye Institute of the National Institutes of Health and has support from Bausch & Lomb, a provider of contact lens solutions.

David Berntsen, the Golden-Golden Professor and chair of the Department of Clinical Sciences at the University of Houston School of Optometry, is the study’s first author. Other co-authors include Anita Tićak and Amber Gaume Giannini of the University of Houston, and Danielle Orr, Loraine Sinnott, Donald Mutti and Lisa Jones-Jordan of The Ohio State University.