This multi-ethnic study found that parental myopia was a risk factor for myopia development in pre-school age children. The age the parents became myopic themselves had a dose-dependent effect in their children if both parents had onset of myopia before age 12. Eye care practitioners can use this to identify which children may benefit from early myopia treatment intervention.
Light-emitting glasses worn by young adults for 1-2 hours reduced axial length and increased choroidal thickness by around 20 microns compared to darkness. The study participants viewed a colour-muted television at 5m while indoors, and the changes regressed within 30 minutes. A future myopia treatment to increase ‘outdoor’ time?
This study measured central and relative peripheral refraction (RPR) in children aged 6-7 years and 12-13 years at baseline and again one year later. There was no correlation found between central and peripheral refraction in the younger group. In the older group, more hyperopic temporal RPR was correlated with a myopic shift, but only explained 10% of the variance in refraction after 12 months.
This study reported that children wearing DIMS spectacle lenses showed increased sub-foveal choroidal thickness than controls at 1 week which increased in the first 6 months and was maintained at 2 years. There was a correlation between more choroidal thickening and less axial elongation, but choroidal thickening only explained around 8% of the variation in axial length.
The BLINK study found that +2.50 Add centre-distance multifocal contact lenses (MFCLs) slowed myopia progression but the +1.50 Add didn’t. Further analysis indicates that increased peripheral defocus created by the +2.50 Add only accounted for around 15% of the myopia control effect, indicating other mechanisms are involved.
Can body height compared to axial length be used to predict risk of myopia or high myopia? This longitudinal study examined body height, axial length and refraction – growth mechanisms are likely linked in emmetropes but not in myopes.
The authors evaluated the Rotterdam, The Netherlands Generation R dataset to establish the risk factors associated with change to axial eye length and incidence of myopia in children from age 6 to 9 yrs.
For many children using digital devices is a normal part of their everyday lives and they will use computers and hand-held devices at school and at home. This systematic review collates this published research to illuminate current understanding on the association between the time children spend on digital devices and incidence, prevalence or progression of myopia.
The visual demand of concentrating on close-up tasks like reading and studying are thought to be a driving force for increased myopia in children. To better understand this relationship the authors consolidated data from several studies to quantify the effect of near work activities on myopia in children and discover any association there may be between them.
Understanding how orthokeratology alters ocular aberrations helps to understand research and potential mechanisms of myopia control. Here we explain more.
