Purpose: To determine whether 8- to 11-year-old myopic children are able to wear daily disposable contact lenses.
Methods: Subjects were examined for eligibility and fitted with 1-Day Acuvue contact lenses at the baseline visit. They underwent noncycloplegic manifest refraction, keratometry, slitlamp biomicroscopic examination, contact lens fitting, standardized visual acuity measurement, and contact lens application and removal training. The subjects attended visits 1 week, 1 month, and 3 months after the initial dispensing visit. At each of these visits, the subjects underwent spherical over-refraction, keratometry, slitlamp examination, and standardized visual acuity measurement, and they completed surveys about contact lens wear. The contact lens with the base curve that exhibited the most appropriate amount of movement and centration or the contact lens with the flatter base curve, if the movement and centration of the two contact lenses were similar, was dispensed.
Results: Ten of the 12 subjects completed the 3-month investigation. One subject decided not to wear contact lenses before the 1-week visit, and one subject moved from the area after the 1-month visit. At the 3-month visit, 6 (60%) of the 10 subjects wore the 9.0 mm base curve contact lens, and 6 (60%) of the 10 subjects required one power change to optimize vision. At the 3-month visit, all subjects but one reported that their vision was "pretty good" or "perfect." All subjects also reported that their eyes were "always comfortable" or "usually comfortable." Eighty percent of the subjects reported that they "never had a problem" or "usually did not have a problem" putting on their contact lenses. All subjects reported that they "usually did not have a problem" or "never had a problem" taking out their contact lenses, and 90% of the subjects reported that they "usually did not have a problem" or "never had a problem" handling their contact lenses.
Conclusion: Eight- to 11-year-old subjects are able to independently care for daily disposable contact lenses and wear them successfully. Daily disposable contact lenses eliminate the need for cleaning and disinfecting contact lenses, so they should be strongly considered as a contact lens treatment option for children.