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All soft contact lens materials in study adversely affect tear film
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Tear physiology was significantly and adversely affected by all types of soft contact lens material tested in a study in Scotland. The surface wetting ability of the materials made no significant difference, regardless of the special surface treatments, the researchers noted.
Alan Tomlinson and colleagues studied 20 habitual contact lens wearers who wore five different soft materials in a random order on the left eye at visits separated by 24 hours. Lens materials tested included polymacon, omafilcon A, phemfilcon A, balafilcon A and etafilcon A. Baseline measurements were taken of the precorneal tear film before lens insertion, and the prelens tear film was measured 30 minutes after the patient commenced lens wear.
No statistically significant differences were found for any of the baseline data. No significant difference was found in evaporation rate change and in tear thinning time between the lens materials. Omafilcon A had significantly more stable grades than phemfilcon A and polymacon. A significantly slower rate of elimination was observed for omafilcon A than phemfilcon A and polymacon.
The study is published in the March issue of Optometry and Vision Science.