Do Toddlers Really Need Eyeglasses? U of A Study To Find Out

TUCSON – Thanks to a $4.1 million, five-year grant, researchers from the University of Arizona will soon embark on a study looking at whether eyeglasses can help toddlers with astigmatism in improving their cognitive, language and motor development skills. The university’s study will be the first of its kind to be based on data collected from sensors on the toddlers’ eyeglasses. The sensors will provide more accurate actual eyeglass-wearing time accounting than relying on data from parents, U of A researchers say.

Astigmatism is the most common vision problem found in kids ages 1 to 3, during the years of intense cognitive and physical development. In some children, astigmatism disappears as the child grows. For others, evidence suggests that eyeglass use by young kids who have astigmatism might help the child develop normal vision too.

The U of A study aims to fill in the gap of a current lack of “evidence-based treatment recommendations for asymptomatic children with moderate astigmatism” in regard to eyeglasses usage. But a key issue is: Will toddlers wear the glasses?

Maybe, said Dr. Joseph M. Miller, a professor in and head of the U of A’s ophthalmology department. “Based on years of experience, we know that some children love their glasses and will wear them, and some children don’t and won’t. So the question is, if they wear their glasses to see better, do they do better?”

The study will answer Miller’s question, as a group of astigmatic children ages 12 to 35 months is divided by researchers into two groups. One group will receive prescription eyeglasses and traditional support. The other group also receives prescription eyeglasses and receives “significant additional clinical support to encourage the children to wear their eyeglasses.”

All the toddlers will be provided eyeglasses loaded with a heat-sensitive sensor on the strap. To avoid the possibility of children swallowing the sensors, they are embedded into medical-grade, puncture-resistant heat-shrink tubing. The sensors compare room temperature changes to body temperature readings every 15 minutes, to calculate accurately when eyeglass wear occurs. The researchers will replace the eyeglass straps and thereby collect the sensors every other month.

When each child in the study reaches their third birthday, their language, motor development and cognitive skills will be measured, as will their vision, with the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development. Those results will then be correlated with the child’s wear-time data collected, to determine if toddlers wearing eyeglasses more at such a young age produced any significant results, the U of A reported.