Fitting children for contact lenses has no harmful long-term effects

A recent study presented at The Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) meeting revealed that patients are equally successful wearing contact lenses whether they were first fitted as children or as teens. The study confirms prior findings that fitting children at younger ages results in no harmful long-term effects. The study involved 175 soft contact lens wearers between the ages of 17 and 30 who had worn lenses for the past ten years. The online survey compared the self-reported comfort, adverse events and compliance of patients who were fitted for contacts as a child (12 years and younger) to that of patients fitted as teens (13 to 19 years of age). 49 percent of those participating in the survey were fitted as a child while 51 percent were fitted as a teen. Researchers were pleased with the number of respondents who reported rubbing their lenses and rinsing their lenses when cleaning them as well as the number who replaced their lens case every 6 months or more.¬† Properly cleaning the lenses can help maximize lens performance and minimize any adverse events.   Elise Ervin Staff Writer