Practitioners more open to contact lenses for children amid rise in myopia control options
Eye care practitioners are increasingly open to fitting contact lenses for children, driven in part by the wider availability of myopia control options, according to a study.
The UK-based survey gathered responses from 316 optometrists and contact lens opticians (CLOs), with a median of 16 years of experience. Children under 18 made up about 37% of their contact lens patients, but only 6% were under age 10. Practitioners commonly recommended soft lenses starting at age 8–9 and rigid lenses around age 10–12.
Contact lens opticians were generally more open than optometrists to fitting younger children and placed less weight on age when making prescribing decisions. Across all respondents, the child’s motivation was the most influential factor, while sex was the least.
Many eye care professionals (38%) reported that the rise in myopia control options made them more inclined to fit contact lenses for younger patients. Among optometrists, the proportion willing to fit lenses in children under age 8 tripled since 2014 from 12.7% to 39.1%.
Reference
Coverdale S, Mallen E, Cufflin M, et al. A survey of attitudes and clinical behaviour of UK eyecare practitioners towards fitting contact lenses for children and young people. Cont Lens Anterior Eye. 2025 Jul 9:102470. doi: 10.1016/j.clae.2025.102470. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 40634179.
