Dry eye in pediatric contact lens wearers.

OBJECTIVE

To determine whether children who wear contact lenses truly have fewer dry eye complaints than adults do.

METHODS

Ninety-four pediatric contact lens wearers, aged 8 to 14 years, were recruited and given the Contact Lens Dry Eye Questionnaire (CLDEQ) short form. The survey is designed to diagnose dry eye syndrome by obtaining information on the frequency of dryness and light sensitivity and their corresponding intensity levels within the first 2 hr of putting in the lenses, in the middle of the day, and at the end of the day. The responses were scored by multiplying the frequency by the average intensity and a constant. A composite score was calculated by subtracting the photophobia score from the dryness score, and the results were compared with those of adult samples from the literature. The questionnaire also asked whether the subject believed he or she had dry eyes while wearing contact lenses. Subjects who believed that they had dry eyes and exhibited a CLDEQ composite score >0.03 were diagnosed with dry eye. Subjects who were unsure if they had dry eyes or said they did not have dry eyes but scored >1.29 were also diagnosed with dry eye.

RESULTS

The average (±SD) age of the sample was 11.7 ± 1.5 years, 56.4% were female, 59.6% were white, and 19.1% were black. The mean (±SD) CLDEQ composite score was 0.25 ± 0.50 (range = -1.20 to 1.45). In the literature, the adult mean (±SD) CLDEQ composite score was 1.02 ± 0.80 (range = -0.74 to 4.50). Of the 94 surveys collected, 4.3% of children were categorized as having dry eye compared with 56.2% of the adults who completed the CLDEQ survey in the adult study.

CONCLUSIONS

Pediatric contact lens wearers have fewer complaints about dry eyes than do adult contact lens wearers, which may be because of improved tear film, differences in reporting of symptoms, or modality of contact lens wear.