Letter to the Editor Regarding “Efficacy of Multifocal Soft Contact Lenses in Reducing Myopia Progression Among Taiwanese Schoolchildren: A Randomized Paired-Eye Clinical Trial”
Year: 2024
Type: letter
Abstract: that eyes treated with the myopia control contact lens had a 52.3% reduction in refractive error and a 25.1% reduction in axial length compared to the eyes treated with the control contact lens.Yet, upon inspection of the data, we noted that the authors may have made a calculation error, which is not allowing for an accurate comparison to past literature.If we perform the calculation based upon the methods of Chamberlain et al. [3] or Walline et al. [4], which are two well-known contact lens-based myopia management trials, we can see that their trials came to the results described in Table 1.Therefore, our evaluation found a major discrepancy with Liu et al.'s refractive error calculation (14.1% vs. 52.3%)[1].While multifocal soft contact lenses trials have typically shown a reduction in myopia progression [3,4], Liu et al.'s reported value suggests a much greater treatment effect than was truly obtained.In fact, neither their refractive error nor their axial reductions likely reach the level of a clinically meaningful reduction, especially considering that their reduction in axial length is on par with that of emmetropic progression [5].This potential lack of efficacy could be related to the author's unorthodox approach, which was to randomize treatments by eye instead of randomizing treatments by subject.This study design issue, which was not fully discussed, and the likely misinterpretation of results may lead the non-critical reader to opt for a myopia
Source: Ophthalmology and Therapy
Authors: Andrew D. Pucker, Stephanie Martich
Institution: University of Colorado Anschutz
Language: English
Subfield: Epidemiology
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $6,850
OpenAlex ID: W4403602771