SEMINAR 1 2023-2024

JOURNAL REVIEW NO: 4

Original Title Dry Eye in Pediatric Contact Lens Wearers

Original Author Katie L. Greiner and Jeffrey J. Walline, OD PhD
Reference Greiner KL, Walline JJ. Dry eye in pediatric contact lens wearers. Eye Contact
Lens. 2010 Nov;36(6):352-5. doi: 10.1097/ICL.0b013e3181f8bc25. PMID:
21060258; PMCID: PMC4461224.

Retrieved from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4461224/

New Title Influence of Contact lens wearing to tear film stability of pediatric patients
New AUTHOR Leidy Terylle Faigao
LEARNING
OBJECTIVES To compare the pediatric and adult tear film.
To understand the relationship of contact lens wear and dry eye in oung
children.
To be guided by the complaints of children with regards to their dry eye
discomfort.

INTRODUCTION
Dry eyes are a common condition that affects 0.39% to 33.7% of the population.
Dry eye symptoms are caused by a variety of factors, including age, gender, and
contact lens use, to name a few. Approximately half of all contact lens wearers
have had at least one episode of dry eye, compared to only one-fifth of non-
contact lens wearers. The benefits of contact lens wear for children have been
established, but little is known about dry eye symptoms that may be
experienced by children.

DISCUSSION
A child's lacrimal system produces more tears than an adults' lacrimal system,
and the nonaqueous portion a child's tear film contains less lipids and mucus
than an adult's tear film. Therefore, proteins and lipids deposit contact lenses
less often for pediatric wearers than adult wearers. Fewer deposits on the
lenses may also explain fewer dry eye symptoms reported by children.

Contact lens replacement modality and materials may also be related to dry eye
symptoms. The vast majority of the children in this sample wore daily
disposable contact lenses, which are likely to have fewer deposits and may
explain the lower prevalence of dry eye classification in this sample. However, a
large study of contact lens-related dry eye found no difference between daily
disposable contact lenses and two-week, monthly, or quarterly replacement
contact lenses. A comparison of contact lens materials found no difference for
dry eye classification, but hydrogel contact lenses resulted in a higher
prevalence of dry eye patients than silicone hydrogel contact lenses.
 Children may also report fewer dry eye symptoms despite experiencing dry eye
symptoms as frequently and severely as adults. They may, however, have less
experience for comparison or they may not know how to categorize the
discomfort, so they simply report fewer symptoms only because they don't yet
understand the concept of discomfort. Although this theory is plausible, it
would be difficult to investigate because discomfort can only be measured
subjectively.

CONCLUSION

Despite suffering dry eye symptoms as frequently and strongly as adults,

children may report fewer symptoms. The lacrimal system of a child produces
more tears than the lacrimal system of an adult, and the nonaqueous
component of a child's tear film includes less lipids and mucus than the
nonaqueous portion of an adult's tear film. The mode and materials used to
replace contact lenses may potentially be linked to dry eye problems.