Multifocal Contact Lens in Children Slows Myopia Progression with Lasting Effects, NIH Study

A new NIH-funded study cites that children who wear multifocal contact lenses to slow progression of myopia maintain their benefits even after they stop wearing contacts as teenagers. This study was a follow-up to the BLINK trial, published in 2020, which showed multifocal contact lenses with high-add peripheral focusing power were most effective at slowing the rate of eye growth, decreasing how myopic children became. 

“There was concern that the eye might grow faster than normal when myopia-control contact lenses were discontinued. Our findings show that when older teenagers stopped wearing these lenses, the eye returned to the age-expected rate of growth,” David A. Berntsen, OD, PhD said in a recent press release. Berntsen is the principal investigator of the study and chair of clinical sciences at the University of Houston College of Optometry.

The new study had participants wear high-add contact lenses for 2 years, followed by 1 year of traditional single-vision contact lenses to assess if discontinuing the treatment affected eye lengthening and subsequent refractive error. The results demonstrated that axial eye growth returned to age-expected rates after discontinuing multifocal lenses. Although there was a small increase (0.03 mm/year) in eye length across all age groups, there was no significant difference compared to the age-expected rate. 

Participants from the original study high-add multifocal treatment group continued to have shorter eyes and less myopia at the end of the follow-up study. However, children who were switched to the high-add contact lenses during the follow-up study only did not catch up to those who wore them beginning ages 7-11. 

“Our findings suggest that it’s a reasonable strategy to fit children with multifocal contact lenses for myopia control at a younger age and continue treatment until the late teenage years when myopia progression has slowed,” Jeffrey J. Walline, OD, PhD, follow-up study chair and associate dean for research at the Ohio State University College of Optometry, Columbus said. 

The utility of multifocal contact lenses is that they correct distance vision while simultaneously slowing eye growth. Single vision glasses or contacts correct distance vision, but do not address the underlying problem of myopia – abnormal eye growth. As global myopia rates are on the rise, halting progression from childhood becomes increasingly important to decrease the risk of vision-threatening complications such as retinal detachments and glaucoma.