Efficacy of a progressive multifocal soft contact lens in myopia management in Caucasian children: A two-year follow-up.

PURPOSE: To evaluate myopia progression as assessed by changes in axial length (AL) and spherical equivalent (SE) from baseline in Caucasian children wearing multifocal soft contact lenses (MCL) compared to single-vision distance spectacles. METHODS: Forty progressing (at least -0.75D increase in previous 12 months) myopic children (7-12 years old) with SE ranging from -0.75 to -4.50 D were recruited in a longitudinal prospective non-randomized study. 20 were fitted with MCL (+2.50D add), whereas 20 wore single-vision distance spectacles. Cycloplegic refraction was measured with an auto-refractometer (Topcon TRK-2P, Japan) and AL with IOLMaster 700 (Carl Zeiss, Germany). Subjective responses related to vision and comfort of MCL wear were determined with a questionnaire scaled from 0 (very poor) to 10 (excellent). RESULTS: After 2 years, mean change in SE/AL in the MCL group was - 0.82±0.25D/0.51±0.02 mm and -1.12±0.14D/0.66±0.03 mm in the spectacles group (all p < 0.001). Cumulative Absolute Reduction in Axial Elongation (CARE) was 0.15 mm. Difference in SE change was 0.30D. 97.5 % of children in the spectacles group showed an AL increase of between 0.61 and 0.70, and 70 % of eyes showed an SE increase of -1.00 D. In the MCL group, there was no case with an elongation >0.60 mm, with 67.5 % of eyes being between 0.51 and 0.60 mm. In contrast, over half of the MCL group exhibited lower SE progression, from 0.50 to 0.75 D. CONCLUSION: A slower myopia progression rate was achieved with a centre distance MCL with +2.50D addition after two years of wear compared with the spectacles group.