Tinted hydrogel lenses: an assessment of glare sensitivity reduction.

The effect of tinted flexible contact lenses on light sensitivity and photophobic response has often been questioned but never thoroughly investigated. An Alpascope was used to investigate whether tinted hydrogel contact lenses would relieve glare sensitivity in pre-adapted contact lens wearers. Various densities of sky blue and autumn amber Cibasoft hydrogel lenses were used in the study. Analysis of the Alpascope data using the t-test, one-way analysis of variance and Duncan's test showed that there was no reduction in glare sensitivity when tinted contact lenses were worn.

Tinted hydrogel lenses permanency of tint.

The spectral transmittances of a sample group of tinted hydrogel contact lenses were analyzed to assess the reproducibility of tinted lenses of a given density. Transmittance data were used to assess permanency of the tint after a 14-day cycle of daily cleaning, sterilization, and storage using a variety of cleaning and sterilization treatments. One-way analysis of variance of the transmittance data has demonstrated significant variations in the density of tint for Cibasoft lenses of a given color and density. However, these variations are smaller than the manufacturer's stated criterion for acceptable differences in tint density at a given tint level, i.e., light, medium, or dark. The Cibatint is stable when the lenses are cleaned with the Septicon and Miraflow systems. However, tinted hydrogel lenses from other manufacturers demonstrated changes of tint which were dependent upon the cleaning and sterilization methods used.