Despite widespread recognition that vision affects academic success, many adolescents still miss comprehensive eye exams. New survey findings highlight missed opportunities in adolescent eye care and the important role eye care professionals play in early detection, patient education, and personalized vision correction.
By Carla Mack, OD, FAAO
What the data reveals about missed opportunities in adolescent eye care
As back-to-school season approaches, the connection between vision and academic performance is widely recognized by parents. Nearly 9 in 10 parents (88%) say vision could impact how their children perform in school.1
Yet a clear care gap remains. A national survey commissioned by Alcon found that more than 1 in 4 parents (27%) say their teen has not had a comprehensive eye exam in at least a year.1 More than half (53%) also report emotional or behavioral changes in children reporting difficulty seeing clearly, including frustration, stress, and lower confidence.1
88% of Parents Recognize Vision Could Impact School Success Yet 1 in 4 Teens and Young Adults Miss Eye Exams1
For eye care professionals, the takeaway is straightforward: awareness of vision needs does not always translate into action.
A complex patient population
Adolescents can be one of the more nuanced patient groups in refractive care, not because cases are unusually complex, but because vision problems often emerge subtly.
Vision changes like nearsightedness can be gradual, which can make it difficult for teens to notice the shift in their vision.2 They may simply fail to mention what they are experiencing during an exam.
The most important vision problems aren't always the ones teens recognize or report.
Vision challenges in teens and young adults may instead look like:
Reduced academic engagement3
Visual fatigue3
Clumsiness and poor hand-eye coordination3
More than 1 in 5 parents (21%) worry their teen may not recognize or communicate a vision problem, which is an important reminder that lack of complaint does not mean lack of need.1
Screenings vs. comprehensive exams: closing the perception gap
The data also points to a persistent misconception with real consequences for care: many families still view school screenings and comprehensive eye exams as interchangeable.2
Among parents who delayed scheduling care, 16% said they did so because their teen passed a school screening.1
Clinically, that is a meaningful education gap. Screenings can be useful, but they can be limited and typically assess only distance vision.4
A comprehensive eye exam is the one of the best ways to fully assess refractive status, binocular vision, accommodative function, ocular health, and how an adolescent performs across real-world visual demands.5
Addressing that disconnect directly may help improve adherence to annual exams.
Beyond acuity: understanding real-world impact
In teens, vision care extends beyond achieving 20/20 acuity.
The survey reinforces that untreated or unrecognized vision issues could influence:
Learning and classroom participation1
Engagement with digital and print materials3
Confidence in the classroom1
When more than half of parents report behavioral or emotional signals from their teen with vision challenges, it reinforces that functional vision, not just clarity, is valuable to adolescent care.1
Back-to-school: a critical window
Back-to-school remains one of the most important intervention points in the annual care cycle.
Two-thirds of parents say scheduling an eye exam during this period is very or extremely important, yet only 67% report their child has had a comprehensive eye exam in the past year.1
Barriers such as scheduling, perceived lack of need, and cost remain familiar. But for eye care practices, this season is a high-intent window when families are already thinking about readiness, routines, and performance.1
That makes proactive outreach, education, and recall strategies especially important during the back-to-school period.
The influence of provider recommendation
One of the clearest signals from the data is the role of the provider in driving behavior.
Nearly half of parents (45%) say a doctor’s recommendation is their top motivator for scheduling an eye exam.1
That level of influence suggests that clear, direct guidance from providers can meaningfully shape follow-through.
Clear, direct guidance from eye care professionals can meaningfully shape whether families follow through with annual eye exams.
For ECPs, that means clearly recommending annual comprehensive exams, explaining why screenings are not substitutes, and linking vision care to school performance, confidence, and daily function.
Expanding the conversation with adolescent patients
Adolescent eye care also offers an opportunity to deepen patient engagement as screen use, academic pressure, and extracurricular demands continue to grow.
These conversations can open the door to vision correction options that fit a teen’s daily routine, both clinically and practically. Glasses remain a trusted solution, but some teens may benefit from the convenience of contact lenses. The key is an informed discussion based on how a teen learns, moves, and lives. For active adolescents, contact lenses can support vision in a variety of settings, from the classroom to the field. In clinical research, PRECISION1® contact lens wearers agreed that their lenses were so comfortable they had the freedom to enjoy activities throughout their long days.6 PRECISION7® wearers found that they provided clear vision and comfort, even when using digital devices for extended periods.7
For many adolescents, contact lenses can provide a vision correction option that fits seamlessly into their daily routine
For many teens, particularly those who are active in sports, spend extended time on digital devices, or want greater convenience and flexibility in their daily routines, contact lenses may be an appropriate option to consider. When discussing daily disposable contact lenses, comfort during prolonged screen use may be especially relevant for adolescents. In clinical evaluations, patients using digital devices for an average of 8.5 hours rated end-of-day comfort with PRECISION1 daily disposable contact lenses 9 out of 10.8, * Introducing these options proactively, and framing them around how a teen learns, moves, and lives, helps ensure decisions are both clinically sound and practically relevant.
Not every adolescent patient will choose or have access to daily disposable contact lenses. Cost considerations, environmental preferences, and individual family circumstances can all play a role in lens selection. In these situations, reusable contact lenses may provide a practical alternative that supports both visual correction and healthy lens-wearing habits.
Discussing the full spectrum of contact lens options allows eye care professionals to match recommendations to a patient's lifestyle, preferences, and likelihood of long-term success with wear and care routines. For patients who prefer a reusable option, contact lenses were designed to provide clear vision and comfort throughout the wearing week, helping support a positive contact lens experience.
Handled well, these conversations can move eye care from reactive to more preventive, personalized, and consistent over time, supporting not just clearer vision, but better engagement and confidence in everyday activities.
From awareness to action
For many providers, these findings will feel familiar: the gap between awareness and follow-through is not new, but it remains significant.
Parents understand that vision matters. Teens may not recognize when something has changed. Providers sit at the critical intersection of education, early detection and action.
As another school year begins, the opportunity is not only to identify vision issues, but to ensure they are addressed with the right solution for each teen. Because diagnosing a problem is only the first step. Meaningful impact comes from matching that diagnosis with vision correction that supports how teens learn, participate and navigate their daily lives.
That individualized approach may include discussing whether contact lenses are an appropriate option for a teen’s lifestyle. For adolescents balancing academics, extracurricular activities and significant digital device use, daily disposable contact lenses can offer a convenient correction option that supports visual demands throughout the day.
Catching issues earlier and guiding patients toward appropriate, personalized correction can help adolescents not just see more clearly, but engage more fully, perform more confidently and succeed both in and out of the classroom.
As eye care professionals prepare for the busy back-to-school season, having the right tools and resources can help support meaningful conversations with patients and their families. To access educational materials, clinical information, and practice resources related to PRECISION1 daily disposable and PRECISION7 weekly disposable contact lenses, visit Alcon's Back-to-School resource center. Because in adolescent eye care, what isn’t said, or seen, often matters most.
* Based on median value; 0-100 scale; 0 worst and 100 best.
REFERENCES
1. REF-29412. Based on a survey of 1,000 U.S. parents of children ages 13-25; Alcon data on file, 2026.
2. REF-29912. Ducloux A, Marillet S, Ingrand P, Bullimore MA, Bourne RRA, Leveziel N. Progression of myopia in teenagers and adults: a nationwide longitudinal study of a prevalent cohort. Br J Ophthalmol. 2023;107(5):644-649.
3. REF-29843. Nine Signs that Children May Need an Eye Exam. UAB Medicine. Accessed May 29, 2026. https://www.uabmedicine.org/news/nine-signs-that-children-may-need-an-eye-exam/
4. REF-08539. Mayo Clinic. Eye Exam.
5. REF-29982. Lazarus, R. (2021, December 5). Vision screening vs eye exam: What’s the difference? Optometrists.org. https://www.optometrists.org/childrens-vision/vision-for-school/vision-screening-vs-eye-exam-whats-the-difference/
6. REF-16282. Alcon data on file, 2022.
7. CLL949-C024 Clinical Study Summary - Clinical Performance of Two Reusable Silicone Hydrogel Contact Lenses In a 2-week prospective clinical study at 15 sites in the US; n=181; Alcon data on file, 2023.
8. REF-19516. Alcon data on file, 2022.
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