If you wear contact lenses and are a licensed driver, you may be interested in participating in a study at The University of Iowa. Mark Wilkinson, OD, clinical professor in the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, talks about the study and who qualifies to participate:
Who is invited to participate in the study?
Individuals who are 25 to 45 years of age, wear soft contact lenses, have little or no refractive astigmatism, and wear a prescription between minus one half and minus three.
Do contact lens wearers have to be wearing contacts for a certain number of years or a certain number of hours each day to qualify for participation?
No, they need to wear contact lenses daily. They’ll wear two different types of lenses for a week each before driving in the simulator.
How many people do you need for thestudy?
We’re just looking for 24, but because of some of the parameters, it’s been somewhat difficult to find that number, so we’re still searching.
What will participants be asked to do as part of the study?
The first part of the study will be to see if they qualify, so we’ll check their glasses’ prescription; we’ll also measure how light passes through their cornea. If they meet the criteria for the study, they’ll be fit with two different types of contact lenses. They’ll wear each pair of lenses for one week and then at the end of that week, they’ll do two 50-minute drives at the National Advanced Driving Simulator.
How many visits or sessions will participants be asked to attend?
Three total: one in the eye clinic to qualify for them for the study and fit them with the different types of lenses, and then two visits at the driving simulator.
How long will the study last?
We hope to have it completed by the end of March.
What do you hope this study will show or prove?
We hope to show that visual functioning can be enhanced with specifically designed contact lenses, particularly under low light conditions or more visually challenging conditions such as driving at night.
If someone is interested in participating in the study, who do they contact?
They can contact Sue Ellen Salisbury at the National Advanced Driving Simulator, at 319-335-4666, or they can contact me at 319-356-8301. |
