Contact lens articles in the literature

We searched the ophthalmic literature of the past 5 years looking for patterns in the publication of contact lens articles. Contact lens articles constituted 2.59% of all ophthalmology articles. We found that a substantial percentage of the articles published in The CLAO Journal and selected optometric journals concerned contact lenses; this, however, was not the case with the major ophthalmology journals (American Journal of Ophthalmology [AJO], Ophthalmology, and Archives of Ophthalmology [Archives]). One recent contact lens development, disposable lenses, was covered by both The CLAO Journal and the major ophthalmology journals, but the coverage differed in that the orientation of the articles in the major ophthalmology journals was essentially negative. Articles about another recent development (rigid gas permeable contact lenses for extended wear), although found in The CLAO Journal, could not be found in the other ophthalmology journals. Finally, when the abstracts of all contact lens articles were reviewed, we found a negative slant to articles published in AJO and Archives. We believe that the major ophthalmology journals present a rather negative view of contact lenses; this, we think, impedes unbiased dissemination of information about new contact lens developments.