Comparison of short‐term light disturbance, optical and visual performance outcomes between a myopia control contact lens and a single‐vision contact lens

Abstract Purpose To compare the optical and visual performance of a dual‐focus (DF) contact lens used for myopia control with a single‐vision (SV) contact lens of the same material. Methods A randomised, double‐masked crossover study. Twenty‐eight healthy, myopic volunteers between 18 and 32 years of age (23.49 ± 4.07 years) participated in this study. The sensory dominant eye for distance vision was determined. Refraction, best‐corrected visual acuity (VA) and aberrations for 3 mm and 5 mm pupil diameters were quantified without a contact lens in situ. Subjects were fitted with two contact lens designs: DF and SV, both made of omafilcon A material. The Quality of Vision (QoV) questionnaire, over‐refraction, best‐corrected VA, stereopsis at 40 cm, best‐corrected photopic and mesopic contrast sensitivity, light disturbance and aberrations were assessed 25 min after contact lens insertion. Results There were no statistically significant differences in best‐corrected VA and stereopsis between the baseline, DF and SV conditions. Photopic and mesopic contrast sensitivity were lower for the DF contact lens at all frequencies, with the exception of the mesopic contrast sensitivity at 18 cycles per degree ( p = 0.23). Higher order aberrations and light disturbance size and irregularity were higher for the DF contact lens ( p < 0.001). No differences were found in higher order aberrations between baseline and the SV contact lens condition for each pupil diameter. QoV scores also revealed lower frequency, severity and bothersome scores with the SV contact lens than with the DF contact lens ( p < 0.001). Conclusions The DF contact lens design decreased the psychophysical and psychometric visual quality scores in the short‐term under dim‐light conditions when compared with a single‐vision contact lens design of the same material. VA and stereopsis were unaffected by the lens design.