A total of 144 children around the world have taken part in CooperVision’s MiSight 1 day clinical trial since it launched in 2012. The study, which was initially a three-year study in Canada, Portugal, Singapore and the UK, is now in its final year and has achieved US Food and Drug Administration approval for MiSight 1 day.
The first phase of the study tested the efficacy of its soft contact lens in slowing the progression of myopia against an equivalent single vision one day lens. Its effectiveness in slowing change in spherical equivalent refraction and axial length was demonstrated in a report after the first three years. Five-year data presented in 2019 found that treatment efficacy does not depend on previous treatments and revealed that children can wear the contact lenses with minimal impact on ocular physiology. The final year of the trial has assessed participants one year after cessation of MiSight lens wear to investigate rebound effects in adolescents.
Hannah Rose
Hannah Rose experienced a slowing down of changes in her vision during the seven years she participated in CooperVision’s clinical study. ‘Considering the fact that my vision was supposed to get worse over time, I’m overjoyed that I can see better than I would if I had not been using the MiSight 1 day contact lens,’ she said.
Rose has had sight tests from a young age and shares that she always enjoyed the experience because of all the equipment in practice. She used to wear spectacles but struggled playing sports as she had to wear protective goggles over her frames. ‘I felt like a mad scientist,’ she says.
She now wears contact lenses every day and finds keeping up with care easy because of the daily disposable nature of MiSight. ‘It did not take me long to learn how to put them in and take them out. Contact lenses have improved my lifestyle in many ways but it mostly impacts my sports life. I play soccer at my university and contact lenses have made it so much easier to play by being able to see so clearly and not having to worry about my glasses,’ Rose shares.
Explaining how contact lenses have played a role in different stages of her life, Rose says that, having worn them since she was in middle school, they have positively impacted her life in many ways. ‘They played a role in my academic life because I was able to see so clearly in class throughout middle school, high school and now university. They have also played a role in my soccer career because I am able to see the ball and players more clearly. It’s really supported my gameplay. Overall, contact lenses have given me more self-confidence in myself, in academics and in sports,’ she says.
Speaking about why she thinks the trial is important, Rose says that having good vision is important at all ages, but especially to young people. ‘Having good vision is key to so many parts of childhood, like school and playing sports, so it’s great that this trial is being carried out.’
Olivia Vander Veen
Olivia Vander Veen started the MiSight 1 day clinical trial in 2013 when she was 12 years old and has one more appointment left before completing it. She explains that she felt lucky to have benefited from the contact lenses because she was only just young enough to participate in the study, which had a cut off age of 13.
‘My prescription has not significantly changed since the start of the trial. I believe this was because I was using the MiSight 1 day lens. During my teenage years, when many people would have a significant progression of myopia, my eyesight remained fairly stable, progressing at a slower than expected rate. I’ve recently discovered that my prescription is now weaker than my younger brother’s, even though he started wearing glasses at age 12 and initially had a much lower prescription,’ Vander Veen shares.
Sight tests have been part of Vander Veen’s life for as long as she can remember. ‘I was having trouble seeing in school at the age of six. I then wore glasses every day for the next six years until I began the trial,’ she shares. Today, she wears contact lenses every day as she finds them superior in comfort and practicality to spectacles, plus it reduces the number of headaches she experiences without the pressure of frames on her temples.
Vander Veen says: ‘Contact lenses have significantly improved my lifestyle in many ways. Since I was very little, I have struggled with near-sightedness and all of my family members need glasses or contacts. When I tried out the lenses, I found them very easy to use and comfortable. I cannot feel them during the day. I found that my vision with contacts felt very natural since they move seamlessly with your eye and your whole field of view is corrected. Wearing contacts definitely made me feel more confident and made many activities in school much easier. I also do not have to deal with the inconveniences of glasses such as them getting rained on or fogging up when you walk inside a building in the winter.
‘Being able to wear non-prescription sunglasses is great as well. In my teen years, I enjoyed experimenting with make-up, and with contacts, applying and removing make-up is a breeze. Contact lenses have changed my life for the better and I can think of no drawbacks to wearing them.’
Over the past eight years, Vander Veen has found that wearing contact lenses has made sports and extracurricular activities hassle-free. ‘From a very young age I have played piano and wearing the lenses made it easier to read sheet music. In high school, I ran cross-country and wearing contacts made it a lot easier. I did not have to worry about breaking or losing glasses.
‘When I turned 16, I was very excited to get my driving license right away and contact lenses have the benefit of not having any glare when you drive at night. Last year, I started going to a boxing gym and contacts allowed me to perform the exercises with no worries. The lenses have given me the freedom to do what I love, while significantly slowing the progression of my myopia,’ she explains.
Vander Veen says that highlighting success stories of the lenses are important so that other children can see how it works to slow the progression of myopia. ‘I am proof that it can work and this might be reassuring to someone looking to try a new type of lens. If people are able to start using these lenses at a young age it could definitely help them manage the progression of myopia as they get older, as it did for me,’ she shares.
Tyson Wark
Tyson Wark experienced a drastic slowing down of myopia progression during the seven years he participated in the study from the age of 12. ‘Prior to the study, my eyesight was progressively getting worse at a pretty rapid pace, but the MiSight lenses helped to slow the progression and my eyesight has now not worsened for a few years,’ he explains.
Wark was diagnosed as colourblind when he first went for a sight test as a child and started wearing spectacles from the age of seven before beginning to use contact lens when he joined CooperVision’s clinical trial. ‘I wear my contact lenses every day. I love how easy and comfortable they are to wear and that I don’t have to worry about having glasses on my face when wearing contacts,’ Wark says.
Once Wark got used to wearing contact lenses at the beginning of the study, he found it extremely easy to properly care for them. He explains: ‘MiSight are daily lenses, so I never had to worry about cleaning them and would just throw them away after use. After about a week, I never had issues with putting in or taking out my contacts either.’
As someone who has always played sports, contact lenses have made Wark’s life a lot easier. ‘I don’t have to worry about my glasses falling off my face or fogging up. Sometimes I’d skip wearing my glasses to avoid the hassle, limiting how well I could see while playing. With contact lenses, I don’t have to make that trade off.
‘I also like the aesthetic of contacts a lot more than glasses. Constantly having to clean smudges on my glasses would also get on my nerves, so not having to worry about that is a major benefit.’
Since starting the trial, Wark has worn his contact lenses throughout middle school, high school and his first two years of university. ‘They have helped in these phases of my life in sports, school and my social life.
‘I think it was important that this clinical study was carried out to be able to see how the contacts work on a variety of individuals and to further contact lens and vision research. I’m glad I was able to be part of that and appreciate that I was able to benefit from the lenses in the process,’ Wark concludes.