Sports players passing up on eye exams

Most patients are unaware of the effect their vision has on sporting performance, latest research suggests.

A survey of independent opticians carried out by Sight Care found approximately 70 per cent of optical professionals did not think patients were aware of the link.

The group said contact lenses were increasingly being chosen by children taking up sports.

‘Among the benefits that contact lenses offer such as better peripheral vision, they also free people from glasses so they don’t have to worry about not being able to see or glasses falling off,’ said Marcella McParland, director professional affairs UK & Ireland at Johnson & Johnson Vision Care.