A new multicentre randomised controlled trial has found that daily disposable Defocus Incorporated Soft Contact (DISC) lenses effectively slow myopia progression and axial elongation in children, particularly those under 10 years of age.
Published in the British Journal of Ophthalmology, the year-long study involved 84 myopic children aged 7–11 years from mainland China. Participants were randomly assigned to wear either DISC lenses or single vision lenses (SVL), with measurements of spherical equivalent refraction (SER), axial length (AL), and choroidal thickness (ChT) recorded at six and 12 months.
After 12 months, children in the DISC group showed markedly slower myopia progression (−0.50±0.41 D) and axial elongation (0.22±0.13 mm) compared with the SVL group (−1.23±0.50 D and 0.49±0.15 mm, respectively). The myopia control efficacy was calculated at 59% based on SER and 55% based on AL.
For children under 10 years old, DISC lenses delivered even greater benefits, achieving a 95% myopia control effect at six months and 71.4% at twelve months.
Choroidal thickness increased slightly (by 0.16 µm) in the DISC group but decreased (by 9.11 µm) in the SVL group over 12 months. The study found a significant negative association between ChT changes and AL elongation in the DISC group, suggesting that myopia defocus treatment may alter the normal relationship between choroidal thickness and myopia progression.
Researchers concluded that the mechanism behind DISC lens efficacy likely involves changes in choroidal thickness – a key tissue layer between the retina and sclera that regulates eye growth. “Myopia defocus design controls myopia progression by changing ChT,” the authors wrote.
No serious adverse events were reported during the study. Minor ocular symptoms such as itching and dry eye were transient and resolved with standard care. Compliance was high across both groups, with children wearing the lenses an average of seven to nine hours per day.
The study builds on growing evidence that DISC lenses – which feature concentric rings alternating between distance correction and +3.00 D myopic defocus zones – provide a safe and effective method for slowing myopia progression in children.
The authors note that further research in other populations is needed to confirm the findings and to explore how changes in choroidal blood flow and regional choroidal thickness may contribute to the observed effects.
The research, conducted by Lin Liu and colleagues from Tianjin Medical University, Wenzhou Medical University, and The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, was supported by Zhuhai Disc Technology, which donated the contact lenses.
Reference: Lin Liu et al. “Effect of daily disposable Defocus Incorporated Soft Contact lens on myopia control: a 1-year multicentre randomised controlled trial.” British Journal of Ophthalmology (2025). DOI: 10.1136/bjo-2025-327471.
