Purpose: To assess the relationship between age and the incidence and severity of conjunctivochalasis in contact lens (CL) wearers by grading of conjunctivochalasis, and to compare the severity of conjunctivochalasis between CL wearers and nonwearers.
Design: Prospective, nonrandomized consecutive case study.
Methods: A total of 600 CL wearers (94 hard CLs [HCL] and 506 soft CLs [SCL]) aged 11 to 60 years and 579 nonwearers aged 10 to 60 years were enrolled. The age, gender, medical history, ocular history, and the grade and other parameters of conjunctivochalasis at 3 locations (nasal, middle, and temporal areas) were determined in all subjects.
Results: The prevalence of conjunctivochalasis increased dramatically with age in all groups. The mean grade of conjunctivochalasis was higher in CL wearers than in nonwearers (nasal area, P < .00001; temporal area, P < .00001) and was higher in HCL wearers than in SCL wearers (nasal area, P < .00001; temporal area, P = .00003). Parameters such as the downward gaze-dependent or digital pressure-dependent changes of conjunctivochalasis and the presence of superficial punctate keratitis all increased with age in both CL wearers and nonwearers. The gaze-dependent and pressure-dependent changes of conjunctivochalasis showed an increase with age and the duration of CL wear in both SCL and HCL wearers.
Conclusions: This was the first assessment of the severity of conjunctivochalasis in a large series of consecutive CL wearers. Our results strongly suggest that wearing CLs is an important risk factor for conjunctivochalasis.