New long-term study affirms contact lens wear as healthy option for children

SAN RAMON, Calif., March 2, 2021–A newly-published work highlights the long-term ocular health of children wearing daily disposable soft contact lenses and reports minimal impact on physiology over six years.[1] Its results affirm that such lenses are an option for children as young as eight years old. Ocular Health of Children Wearing Daily Disposable Contact Lenses Over a 6-Year Period (Woods J, et al) adds to the growing body of evidence in support of contact lens wear in children for myopia control.

The paper has been accepted by Contact Lens and Anterior Eye, the peer review journal of the British Contact Lens Association. It is immediately available at no charge via Open Access.

Investigators followed 144 children as part of a multi-site, randomized, controlled clinical trial for CooperVision’s MiSight® 1 day contact lenses, which are currently available in 26 countries with more expected this year.

“Ultimately, our work suggests that placing age-appropriate children in daily disposable contact lenses is a successful way to correct their vision, in addition to the myopia control benefits of MiSight® 1 day .[2] This should provide eye care professionals and parents even more assurance when considering myopia control options,” said Jill Woods, MSc, MCOptom, FAAO, FBCLA, Head of Clinical Research for the Centre for Ocular Research & Education (CORE). She is the paper’s lead author and an investigator for the MiSight® 1 day clinical trial.

Across the entire study period, there were no contact lens-related serious adverse events, and the low incidence rate of corneal infiltrative events were the equivalent of 6.1 per 1,000 wearing years, which is similar to CIE rates in adults wearing 1-day lenses. Ocular health, as determined by biomicroscopy after six years of full-time wear (representing more than 5,000 aggregate measurements of each variable, assessed at six-month intervals) was similar to baseline observations prior to commencing lens use. The paper also discusses the many factors affecting contact lens wearing success, including lens fit, lens material and surface, and patient habits.

Based on a comprehensive literature review, this study is the longest ever to specifically report on physiological response to daily disposable soft contact lens wear in young children and adolescents.

It is the latest in a series of research initiatives sponsored by CooperVision that are adding to the evidence base for myopia management and control. These include the newly-available ReCSS retrospective study which showed very low complication rates of children who wear soft contact lenses.[3]

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U.S. Indications for Use: MiSight® 1 Day (omafilcon A) Soft (Hydrophilic) Contact Lenses for daily wear are indicated for the correction of myopic ametropia and for slowing the progression of myopia in children with non-diseased eyes, who at the initiation of treatment are 8-12 years of age and have a refraction of -0.75 to -4.00 diopters (spherical equivalent) with ? 0.75 diopters of astigmatism. The lens is to be discarded after each removal.

CooperVision, a division of CooperCompanies (NYSE:COO), is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of contact lenses. The company produces a full array of daily disposable, two-week and monthly soft contact lenses that feature advanced materials and optics, and premium rigid gas permeable lenses for orthokeratology and scleral designs. CooperVision has a strong heritage of addressing the toughest vision challenges such as astigmatism, presbyopia, childhood myopia, and highly irregular corneas; and offers the most complete portfolio of spherical, toric and multifocal products available. Through a combination of innovative products and focused practitioner support, the company brings a refreshing perspective to the marketplace, creating real advantages for customers and wearers. For more information, visit http://www.coopervision.com.

CooperCompanies (“Cooper”) is a global medical device company publicly traded on the NYSE (NYSE:COO). Cooper operates through two business units, CooperVision and CooperSurgical. CooperVision brings a refreshing perspective on vision care with a commitment to developing a wide range of high-quality products for contact lens wearers and providing focused practitioner support. CooperSurgical is committed to advancing the health of women, babies and families with its diversified portfolio of products and services focusing on medical devices and fertility & genomics. Headquartered in San Ramon, Calif., Cooper has a workforce of more than 12,000 with products sold in over 100 countries. For more information, please visit http://www.coopercos.com.

Mike McDougall, APR, Fellow PRSA, McDougall Communications

[email protected] or +1-585-434-2150

[1] Woods J, et al. Ocular Health of Children Wearing Daily Disposable Contact Lenses Over a 6-Year Period. Cont Lens Anterior Eye. 2021. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clae.2020.11.011

[2] Chamberlain P, et al. A 3-year randomized clinical trial of MiSight® lenses for myopia control. Optom Vis Sci. (2019); 96(8):556-567. Compared to a single vision 1 day lens over a 3 year period.

[3] Chalmers, RL, McNally, JJ, Chamberlain, P, & Keay, L. Adverse event rates in the retrospective cohort study of safety of paediatric soft contact lens wear: the ReCSS study. Ophthalmic Physiol Opt. 2020. https://doi.org/10.1111/opo.12753