Houston Daily

Global research reveals that 35% of children worldwide are affected by myopia, a condition requiring glasses for clear distance vision. This figure is expected to increase to 40%, affecting over 740 million children by 2050 if current trends persist.

David Berntsen, the Golden-Golden Professor of Optometry and chair of Clinical Sciences at the University of Houston College of Optometry, alongside collaborators at Ohio State University, have been investigating effective methods to combat nearsightedness in children. Their efforts have yielded promising results.

Supported by funding from the National Eye Institute, Berntsen and his team conducted the BLINK Study (Bifocal Lenses In Nearsighted Kids), demonstrating that high-add power multifocal contact lenses can slow the progression of myopia in children. Notably, this treatment remains effective even after older children cease wearing the lenses. The team has continued their research through both the BLINK and BLINK2 Studies.

Berntsen's latest findings report on biological changes linked to slowing eye growth with multifocal lens use. Myopia in children primarily occurs when eyes grow too long from front to back, causing light to focus incorrectly in front of the retina rather than directly on it, resulting in blurred vision.

The study emphasizes the role of high-add power multifocal contact lenses in decelerating nearsightedness among children. These findings are attributed to alterations in the choroid—a layer supplying oxygen and nutrients to the retina—which thickens slightly when children wear these lenses. "We evaluated changes in subfoveal choroidal thickness and area in children wearing soft multifocal contact lenses for myopia control," Berntsen reports in Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science.

The research involved 281 myopic children aged between 7 and 11 years who were randomly assigned either single vision or multifocal contact lenses. According to Berntsen, "While there were no changes in choroidal thickness or area in the single vision group, eyes in the high-add multifocal contact lens group that grew less maintained a slightly thicker choroid throughout the three years of multifocal lens wear."

The BLINK study provides an extensive longitudinal analysis of choroidal changes among myopic children using single vision versus multifocal soft contact lenses.