Myopia findings

A paper presented by the University of Houston‘s Dr Mark Bullimore at the American Academy of Optometry Conference last weekend has reported that 5.00DS of myopia equalled 12 years’ ageing.

The paper compared the benefits of myopia management with the risks of contact lens wear over a lifetime of myopic correction. Visual impairment risk increased with age, and each dioptre increase of myopia increased the risk of visual impairment by 25%, while each reduction of 1.00DS reduced the risk by 20%.

Dr Bullimore then showed how a 5.00DS increase in myopia is the equivalent to 12 years of ageing in terms of the potential for visual impairment by referencing previous studies of the possible risks of corneal inflammatory events with contact lens wear and comparing these to the risk of visual impairment caused by increasing levels of myopia over a lifetime. He concluded: ‘The potential vision saved by myopia control far outweighed the potential for vision loss by contact lens treatments.’