Contact Lenses With HEV Light Filters Reduce Glare, Photostress Recovery TimeHEV

High-energy visible (HEV) light-filtering contact lenses can reduce glare and speed photostress recovery time, according to a study published in Eye and Contact Lens. 

Researchers enrolled 61 contact lens wearers (77% women; mean age, 39.60 years) in a double-masked, randomized,  study. All participants underwent comprehensive exams and were fit with a HEV light-filtering lens on 1 eye, and a clear lens on the contralateral eye. Participants were exposed to a broadband white photostressor for 5 seconds. Video images were obtained and analyzed, palpebral fissure size was measured during exposure, and photostress recovery time was calculated.

According to the report, the HEV-filtering lens was statistically superior to the clear contact lens with respect to the magnitude of squint (44.9% squint reduction; P <.0001) and photostress recovery time (5.45 vs 7.19 seconds; 24.3% faster recovery; 95% CI, 13.8-33.5; P <.0001). Eyes fit with the HEV light-filtering lens demonstrated less squinting compared with eyes fit with the clear control lens (2.23 vs 4.04 mm).

“Filtering these very short wavelengths may be particularly useful in reducing some of the deleterious effects of bright light without simultaneously influencing peak spectral sensitivity (reducing the strongly used portion of the visible spectrum),” according to the researchers. “This is consistent with data showing that, all things equal, discomfort is exaggerated at the lowest wavelengths.”

Study limitations include a single center design.

Disclosure: This research was supported by Johnson & Johnson Vision Care Inc. Multiple study authors declared affiliations with biotech, pharmaceutical, and/or clinical research organizations. Please see the original reference for a full list of authors’ disclosures.