New research on wearing contact lenses has debunked the established theory that younger children cannot wear contacts. Optometrists said wearing contact lenses for 12-to-13 year-old children was the age limit, but according to new research, contact lenses can be suitable for 8-to-11 year-old children.
Jeffery Walline, a research scientist in optometry at Ohio State, conducted a study of 10 nearsighted children. They were all 8-to-11 year-olds and wore daily disposable lenses for three months. Results showed that nine out of 10 children did not have any problems with wearing contact lenses.
Walline explained he selected the 8-to-11 year-old children because that is the age where children start to have vision problems.
“Most kids are fitted with contact lenses starting at age 12 or 13, but we thought that younger kids could do it, so we pushed it back to eight-year-olds because we thought that they would be responsible enough and able to wear contact lenses,” Walline said. “Age eight is about when kids start becoming nearsighted enough to require glasses or contact lenses.”
Walline said he evaluated the comfort of the contact lenses, the children’s vision with the lenses and the children’s ability to put them in and take them out.
According to the research statement, “The children’s eyesight was nearly 20/20 -perfect vision- at each follow-up visit. Children wore their lenses an average of 11 hours a day by the end of the study. By the third month, nine of the 10 children reported that their vision was ‘pretty good’ or ‘perfect’; all children but one said their eyes were ‘always comfortable’ or ‘usually comfortable’; eight children said they had little to no problem putting in their contact lenses; and all children reported that they had little to no problem taking the lenses out.”
Some students were really surprised at the result of the study.
“It seems really young,” said Valissa Warien, a sophomore in international business and Spanish. She said she knows a person who cannot handle contact lenses even at 20-years-old.
Walline said daily disposable lenses are safer and easier for younger children.
“They are more likely to do what they need to do to maintain good, healthy eyes and good vision,” Walline said. “All they have to do is take them out every night.”
Wearing contact lenses could provide huge advantages for many youths.
They are more convenient for kids playing sports or other activities, Walline said. Also, it is good for children who worry about how they look with glasses.
“Some kids just don’t like to wear glasses, so contact lenses are a great option for them,” Walline said. “They don’t like the way they look; they don’t like the way they feel. During sports or during the winter they have trouble when the glasses fog up, or they just fall off their face.”
Abby Hertzfeld, a graduate and employee of OSU, said, “I agree (with the study).” She said all the steps for wearing contact lenses are getting a lot easier. Hertzfeld said she started to use contact lenses at 13 because she broke her glasses all the time playing sports.
Walline explained this research is just the introductory part of the study.
“That was the first step of the study because our next question that we’re actually working on right now and that we’re enrolling children for, is to find out if contact lenses help kids feel better about themselves,” Walline said. “We’ve enrolled over 100 kids in that study so far just at Ohio State.”
Walline’s study is not restricted to only Ohio.
“We actually have about 400 kids enrolled across the United States,” Walline said. “Half those kids will wear glasses and half will wear contact lenses for three years.”
Walline said kids are randomly assigned to wear glasses and contact lenses. The researchers administer the surveys to inquire how kids feel about themselves.
“We are seeing which group of kids feel better about themselves, the kids with glasses or the kids with contact lenses,” Walline said. “Kids received free eye care, free glasses and free contact lenses no matter which group they were assigned to. If they were assigned to the glasses group, they don’t get the contact lenses until the study’s done three years from now.”
