Study explores myopia progression after discontinuing contact lens wear

A new study published in JAMA Ophthalmology has explored whether axial eye growth increases after ceasing to wear soft multifocal contact lenses for myopia management.

Reporting observations from the Bifocal Lenses in Nearsighted Kids 2 (BLINK2) study, researchers found that faster, but age-expected, eye growth occurred after discontinuing soft multifocal contact lens wear. There was no loss of accumulated treatment effect.

The study involved 235 participants between the ages of 11 and 17 who wore high-add (+2.50 dioptre) multifocal soft contact lenses for two years and single-vision soft contact lenses during the third year to determine if rebound occurred.

The authors highlighted that the results support continuing multifocal contact lens wear until cessation of axial elongation and progression.

“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,” Dr Jeffrey Walline, associate dean for research at the Ohio State University College of Optometry, shared.

Dr David Berntsen, chair of clinical sciences at the University of Houston College of Optometry, highlighted that previously there was concern that the eye might grow faster than normal when myopia management contact lenses are discontinued.

“Our findings show that when older teenagers stopped wearing these lenses, the eye returned to the age-expected rate of growth,” he said.

The study was funded by the National Eye Institute at the National Institutes of Health.

The BLINK2 study follows the original BLINK study, which involved 294 young people between the ages of 11 and 17. The study participants were randomly assigned to either wear single vision contact lenses or multifocal lenses with either high-add power (+2.50 dioptres) or medium-add power (+1.50 dioptres) for three years.

At the end of the study period, children in the high-add multifocal contact lens group had the slowest rate of myopia progression and eye growth.