Contact lenses for vision correction in children and adolescents (literature review)

Abstract

The use of contact lenses (CLs) in children and adoles¬cents is a topical subject that attracted even more atten¬tion during recent years due to the improvement of ma¬terials and types of CLs. According to research, more than 2 million children and adolescents use soft CLs in the USA alone. This results from both broad medical indications for the prescription of CLs and social reasons. The age at which contact lenses can be recommended for children is also an important subject that is being under debate. While some ophthalmologists believe that children can be introduced to soft contact lenses from the age of 12 years old, others think that the minimum age should be 14 years old. Some doctors, however, are against using contact lenses in children. Optometrists, not having the right to conduct cycloplegia, prefer to prescribe contact lenses to adolescents over 14 years old. On the other hand, the selection of CLs for children and adolescents does not depend on age, but on the indications for their application.