Vision-Related Quality of Life Benefits Improve More for Children Who Wear Contact Lenses Versus Glasses
October 23 2008 - 8:00AM
PR Newswire (US)
Multi-site, three-year study shows several significant differences
ANAHEIM, Calif., Oct. 23 /PRNewswire/ -- Compared to glasses,
contact lens wear offers improved vision-related quality of life
benefits for children and teenagers. Findings from a multi-site,
three-year study suggest that children who require vision
correction should be given the option of being fitted with contact
lenses study investigators said today at The American Academy of
Optometry meeting. Using the Pediatric Refractive Error Profile
(PREP), an instrument used to compare the vision-specific quality
of life between children affected only with refractive error,
researchers compared the two groups for a period of three years.
Children who wore contacts saw greater improvement in satisfaction
with their choice of vision correction, appearance, and
participation in activities, with differences detected as early as
one month. "Studies have shown glasses to be associated with
negative attributes in areas of self-perception and attractiveness,
so it's not surprising that children experience quality-of-life
benefits beyond vision correction from contact lens wear," says
Marjorie Rah, O.D., Ph.D., F.A.A.O., New England College of
Optometry, and lead author of this report from the Adolescent and
Child Health Initiative to Encourage Vision Empowerment (ACHIEVE)
Study. "The growing body of research in this area demonstrates that
contact lenses significantly improve how children feel about their
physical appearance and participating in activities such as
sports," she adds. "This should give doctors and parents greater
confidence in presenting children with the option of contact lens
wear when vision correction is required, especially those children
active in sports or those who don't like how they look in glasses."
About the Study A total of 484 eight-to 11-year-old myopic children
participated in the randomized, single-masked trial conducted from
September 2003 to October 2007 at five clinical centers in the
United States. Children were randomly assigned to wear spectacles
(n= 237) or contact lenses (n = 247) for three years. The Pediatric
Refractive Error Profile is comprised of 26 statements scored from
one (strongly disagree) to five (strongly agree). Scores are scaled
from zero (poor quality of life) to 100 (good quality of life). The
mean score of all questions is the Overall PREP score. There are
ten subscales: Activities, Appearance, Far Vision, Near Vision,
Handling, Peer Perception, Satisfaction, Academics, Symptoms, and
Overall Vision. The PREP survey was administered at baseline, one
month, and every six months from baseline for three years. At
baseline, all subjects completed the PREP for Glasses survey. At
subsequent visits, children assigned to spectacles completed the
PREP for Glasses and those assigned to contact lenses completed the
PREP for Contact Lenses. The two surveys are identical except the
word "contact lenses" replaces "glasses" in the PREP for Contact
Lenses. In comparing the three-year change in quality of life of
contact lens wearers to the change of quality of life of spectacle
wearers, the biggest mean difference in change of PREP scores was
found in the subcategories: satisfaction (28.6, 95% CI = 22.3,
34.9), appearance (26.2, 95% CI = 20.8, 31.5), and activities
(26.4, 95% CI = 20.9, 32.8), with greater improvement experienced
by the contact lens group in all three groups. Similar changes were
measured as early as one month. The study was supported by funding
from VISTAKON(R), division of Johnson & Johnson Vision Care,
Inc. DATASOURCE: VISTAKON, division of Johnson & Johnson Vision
Care, Inc. CONTACT: Gary Esterow of VISTAKON, division of Johnson
& Johnson Vision Care, Inc., +1-908-216-5200, Web site:
http://www.jnjvision.com/
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