Visual symptoms and compliance with spectacle wear in myopic children: double-masked comparison between progressive addition lenses and single vision lenses.

Abstract

The aim of this study is to clarify visual symptoms and compliance with spectacle wear in children kusing progressive addition lenses (PALs). Ninety-two children, participating in a randomized, doublemasked, crossover trial to determine whether PALs reduce myopia progression (mean+/-SD age: 11.0+/-1.6 years; refractive errors: 3.11+/-1.34 D), wore PALs (1.50 D near addition) or single vision lenses (SVLs) for 18 months, alternately. A questionnaire survey was performed 6 and 12 months after the beginning of the use of the lenses (6-month survey), and the results were compared between PAL- and SVL-wearing periods. In the PAL-wearing period, the children reported difficulty in adapting to newly provided spectacles (36%), disturbances in distance vision (22%), vertigo in the lateral gaze (11%), and difficulty in ascending and descending stairs (9%). However, the frequency of these symptoms was not significantly different from that reported in the SVL-wearing period. There was no difference in compliance with spectacle wear between the PAL- and SVL-wearing periods, and 98% of the children wearing PALs reported excellent compliance. The results of this study indicate that, compared with SVLs, the PALs provide a similar level of comfort and compliance with spectacle wear for myopic children.