Jan. 21, 2021 — A recently released global survey from CooperVision underscores a gap between the concern of eyecare professionals and the understanding of parents regarding the growing myopia epidemic and the impact myopia can have on future eye health, shares the company.

402 eyecare professionals and 1,009 parents with children ages 6 to 15 across Canada, Spain, the United Kingdom, Germany, Hong Kong, Australia, and New Zealand were included in the Global Myopia Attitudes and Awareness Study.

According to results, while a majority of ECPs recognize the seriousness of myopia, parents remain unfamiliar but open to solutions.

Additionally, 4 in 5 ECPs (82%) worry that their young patients will have significant eye health issues associated with myopia as they grow older, yet more than half (54%) say parents don’t understand these future eye health risks. 

CooperVision has shared an infographic that underscores the need for education and evidence-based approaches.

Globally, parents are more familiar with the term nearsightedness (short-sightedness) than myopia, though the difference varies from country to country. 

Whereas at least 8 in 10 parents expressed familiarity with the term nearsightedness across all surveyed countries (82-98%), only Spain (91%), Hong Kong (86%), and Australia and New Zealand (90%) could say the same for myopia.

Once an explanation brought myopia into focus for the surveyed parents, 87% were open to learning more about myopia management solutions. They also prioritized ease of use and comfort for their child. 

Furthermore, after learning specifically about MiSight 1 day—an FDA-approved daily soft contact lens designed to slow the progression of myopia in children, aged 8-12 at the initiation of treatment—the majority (76%) also believe it is safe and easy to use for children as young as 8 years old.

Nearly three-quarters of ECPs agree that a comprehensive myopia management program featuring MiSight 1 day seems easy (72%) for children and their parents to follow and is an even more convenient (75%) way to manage myopia than other products.

Ultimately, shares CooperVision, what many ECPs (92%) find important about offering myopia management is the ability to make a difference in their young patients future eye health. Despite a high motivation to make a difference, only 58% of ECPs cite clinical results as a top criterion for selecting a myopia management approach.

“In these results, we see both opportunity and encouragement for myopia management globally,” says Jennifer Lambert, CooperVision senior director of global myopia management. “A top priority for us and many of our partners is to strengthen myopia awareness among parents worldwide. To this end, we launched an unparalleled consumer campaign in the U.S. late last year and have expanded our Brilliant Futures Myopia Management Program into seven other countries in recent months. The indication that parents are open to learning about solutions once they understand the condition is welcome encouragement that these efforts will prove effective and worthwhile.”

“Among ECPs, we see a need for a stronger emphasis on science and clinical evidence in myopia management decisions. This is an important step toward our vision for myopia management as a standard of care, and will take teamwork and commitment from industry, eyecare professionals, pediatricians, and others to succeed. Thankfully, more research on the topic is regularly emerging, including ongoing findings from our landmark MiSight 1 day study.”

CooperVision shared additional highlights from the survey:

• ECPs identified that the most important reasons for recommending specific myopia management options include having the best clinical results (58%), being the easiest for children to use (44%), and being an approved product (44%) (i.e., regulatory indication to slow myopia progression).
• 84% of ECPs would consider putting their pediatric myopes into contact lenses that could help slow the progression of myopia. Additionally, 1 in 2 ECPs are comfortable fitting myopic children with contact lenses from age 8. This increases to 3 in 4 ECPs by age 10. The average age ECPs are comfortable with is 9.1 years old.
• Parents prefer their children to be older when starting to use contact lenses. According to parent data, 1 in 2 parents are comfortable with their children wearing contact lenses from age 11. This increases to three-quarters by age 14. The average age parents are comfortable with is 11.7 years old.
• However, the introduction of MiSight 1 day nearly triples parents interest in a myopia management program with soft contact lenses, rising from 27% to 74%.

Head to EB News to learn more about the award-winning MiSight 1 day contact lenses, and here survey results.