Overnight wear of ortho-k contact lenses may slow the progression of myopia.

Orthokeratology — the fitting of special gas permeable contact lenses for the temporary treatment of myopia — may also reduce the progression of myopia in children, according to a new study.

Researchers in Japan studied how overnight wear of ortho-k lenses might affect eyeball elongation in children, which is a cause of myopia progression. Read more…

Bausch + Lomb’s SofLens Toric disposable toric soft contact lens corrects up to -2.75 D of astigmatism.

A high percentage of people who may be considering soft contacts could benefit from toric contact lenses that correct astigmatism, according to a new study.

Researchers in the U.K. evaluated a database of 11,624 eyeglass prescriptions to determine the prevalence of clinically significant astigmatism among this population.

Analysis of the data revealed 47.4 percent of patients had 0.75 diopter (D) or more astigmatism in at least one eye, and 24.1 percent had this amount of astigmatism in both eyes. Read more…

Real-world tasks like reading a menu may be the best way to evaluate monovision and multifocal contacts.

Though visual acuity testing with an eye chart is the hallmark of vision testing during routine eye exams, it may not be the best way to evaluate the performance of bifocal contact lenses, according to an international expert.

Instead, Eric Papas, PhD, says many researchers have turned to occupation-based tasks and other “real-world” activities to evaluate the performance of monovision and multifocal contacts for the correction of presbyopia. Read more…

Poor compliance with contact lens care can significantly increase risk of eye infections.

The results of several new studies concerning patient compliance with proper contact lens care were unveiled at the 2010 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Optometry held recently in San Francisco.

Key findings of these studies included:

• A survey of 372 contact lens practitioners revealed that 96 percent consider daily disposable contact lenses to be the healthiest mode of contact lens wear, followed by two-week and monthly replacement lenses. Read more…

Many soft contact lenses wearers who experience dryness discomfort show no clinical sign of dry eyes, according to a new study.

Researchers examined 1,443 soft contact lens wearers in the United States and Canada and 932 lens wearers in the United Kingdom to determine the prevalence of contact lens-related dryness symptoms and the underlying causes of the discomfort. Read more…

Adults have more contact lens-related dry eye complaints than children who wear contacts.

Children who wear contact lenses have fewer dry eye complaints than adult wearers, according to a new study.

Researchers recruited 94 pediatric contact lens wearers, ages 8 to 14. All subjects completed the Contact Lens Dry Eye Questionnaire (CLDWQ) short form, a survey designed to diagnose dry eyes by obtaining information on the frequency of dryness symptoms and light sensitivity within the first two hours of contact lens wear, in the middle of the day and at the end of a full day of lens wear. Read more…

A significant majority of U.S. optometrists say soft contact lenses are an appropriate form of vision correction for children ages 12 and under, according to a new study.

Earlier this year, the American Optometric Association (AOA) and Johnson & Johnson Vision Care sent a survey to 4,004 AOA-member optometrists to determine their contact lens prescribing habits and when they fit children with contacts. Read more…

Many contact lens wearers — including many who believe they are compliant with accepted contact lens care practices — fail to take proper care of their lenses, according to a new study.

Researchers at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center (Dallas) conducted the study to investigate the relationship between 1) perceived and actual contact lens care compliance, and 2) awareness of risks of contact lens-related eye infections and lens care behavior. Read more…

Multifocal contact lenses may reduce vision for night driving, at least among new lens wearers.

Older adults who wear multifocal contact lenses or monovision contacts to correct presbyopia may have greater difficulty driving at night than when wearing eyeglasses, according to a new study.

In an article published in Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science, researchers in Australia investigated the effect of a variety of methods of presbyopic vision correction on the night driving performance of 11 subjects between the ages of 45 to 64 years. Read more…

Disposable contact lenses designed for more frequent replacement are associated with fewer unscheduled visits to the eye doctor, according to a new study.

Researchers found 8 percent of patients wearing two-week disposable contacts returned to their eye doctor with comfort or vision complaints over the study period, compared with 13 percent of patients wearing monthly replacement lenses. Read more…

Wearing contact lenses is a risk factor for the development of abnormal tissue growth on the surface of the eye called a pinguecula, according to a new study.

Researchers at the University of Tokyo Graduate School of Medicine examined 600 contact lens wearers and 579 non-wearers between the ages of 10 and 60 to evaluate the incidence and severity of pingueculae, using a standardized grading system. Among the contact lens wearers, 506 wore soft contacts and 94 wore hard lenses.

The study revealed an age-related increase in pingueculae among both contact lens wearers and non-wearers. The grade of pingueculae at the temporal conjunctiva (the clear coating of the portion of the white of the eye that is closer to the subject’s ear) was higher among contact lens wearers than among those who did not wear contacts. Read more…

If you typically clean and then air dry your contact lens case, researchers say you could risk contamination if you leave it face-up.

A study published in the July issue of Optometry & Vision Science says small numbers of microorganisms were found in contact lens cases when they were cleaned and then left in a face-up position.

Contamination was even more likely in humid environments when cases were left face-up after cleaning. Read more…