Visual and optical performance of silicone hydrogel contact lenses for moderate myopia

Abstract Purpose To compare the short-term visual and optical performance of silicone hydrogel contact lenses for myopia ≥ −3.00D. Methods This was a short-term, non-dispense, double-masked, randomized study investigating Night&Day (ND), PureVision (PV), O2 Optix (O2), Biofinity (BF), Acuvue Advance (AA) and Acuvue OASYS for myopia ≥ −3.00D. Testing was conducted under scotopic conditions. Measures (one eye only) included: high- and low-contrast visual acuity (HCVA/LCVA), contrast sensitivity, subjective clarity of vision ratings (0-100 scale using reference images, with test image representing grade 50) and ocular aberrations (up to the 4th order, analyzed across individual scotopic pupil sizes). Results Three males and 27 females participated, with a mean (± SD) age of 24.9 ± 7.7 yrs (range 19 to 53 yrs), sphere of −5.30 ± 1.73D (range −3.00 to −10.75D) and cylinder −0.36 ± 0.23D (range 0 to −0.75D). Mean (± SEM) logMAR HCVA ranged from 0.06 (PV) to 0.10 (AA) (± 0.02), LCVA from 0.33 (BF) to 0.40 (AA) (± 0.02) and contrast sensitivity from 2.33 (BF) to 2.53 (ND) (± 0.15) (differences not statistically significant; all p > 0.05). Subjective ratings for the test image ranged from 59 (PV) to 64 (ND) (± 4) and 56 (AA) to 65 (ND) (± 4), for monochromatic and polychromatic reference images, respectively (all p > 0.05). There was a statistically significant impact on ocular aberrations with all study lenses compared to no lens. Between-lens differences were statistically significant for defocus (Z02 ), horizontal coma (Z13 ) and spherical aberration (Z04 ). Conclusions Despite some differences in ocular aberrations, there were no significant differences in HCVA, LCVA, contrast sensitivity or subjective ratings across lenses.