Abstract
Purpose:
There were reports analyzing prevalence rate of refractive error such as myopia and hyperopia by cross-sectional studies, but only few analyzed by prospective studies. Moreover, using glasses and contact lenses are the mainstream of correcting refractive error, but it is not clear if there is a difference in the change of refraction of the refractive power after using these two vision correcting devices. So the purpose of this study is to compare the change in refraction between glasses users and contact lenses users by a large scale epidemiological study based on a 5 years prospective study against approximately 273 thousand eyes of Japanese.
Methods:
The subject of this study is 13,977 eyes ranging in age from 4 to 88 years who attended Okada Eye Clinic in Yokohama, Japan for the prescription of glasses, and 273,042 eyes ranging in the age of 10 to 91 years who attended the clinic for the prescription of contact lenses. The subjects using orthokeratology lens, with cataract operated eyes, and who had a change in power larger than ±5D within a year while the 5 years prospective study was excluded.
Results:
As a result of analysis of covariance among the 12 age groups, the change in refractions towards myopia was significantly (p<0.001) higher in both sexes of the glasses users’ eyes in the age group 10 to 14 years and 15 to 19 years. On the other side, the change in refraction power toward hyperopia was significantly (p<0.05) higher in both sexes of the glasses users’ eyes in the age group 50 to 54 years and 55 to 59 years and aged 60 or more. But in men in the age group of 25 to 34 years and women in age group of 20 to 24 years, the change in refraction power toward myopia of the contact lenses users’ eyes were significantly (p<0.05) higher than the contact lenses users’ eyes.
Conclusions:
As a result, compared to contact lenses users’ eyes, glasses users’ eyes has a larger change in refraction towards myopia in ages under 20, and a larger change in refraction towards hyperopia in aged 50 or more. But on the contrary, the changes in refraction towards myopia of the contact lenses users’ eyes were larger than the glasses users’ eyes in men in the age group of 25 to 34 years and women in age group of 20 to 24 years. It is suggested that a further prospective study is needed.
Keywords: 477 contact lens •
605 myopia •
547 hyperopia