Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Comment
  • Published:

Cochrane corner: interventions for myopia control in children

Eye volume 37, pages 3526–3527 (2023)Cite this article

Subjects

Despite its epidemic prevalence in East Asia and its impact on approximately half of young adults in the United States and Europe, myopia has not been appropriately recognized as a global public health issue [1, 2]. This lifelong condition not only affects individuals early in life but also has significant social and economic consequences [3].

A recent Cochrane systematic review conducted by Lawrenson et al. evaluated 64 randomized trials that involved 11,617 children aged 4 to 18 years [4]. The review assessed the effectiveness and safety of optical, pharmacological, and environmental interventions in slowing myopia progression in children. The main outcomes of the review were myopia progression at 1 and 2 years, as determined by mean change in spherical refractive error and axial length. Additionally, the review considered other important outcomes, such as adverse events related to the interventions, quality of life concerning vision or general health, and treatment adherence.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on SpringerLink
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

References

  1. Dolgin E. The myopia boom. Nature. 2015;519:276–8.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Nucci P. Childhood myopia—a global perspective. Graefes Arch Clin Exp Ophthalmol. 2023;261:41–2.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Sankaridurg P, Tahhan N, Kandel H, Naduvilath T, Zou H, Frick KD, et al. IMI impact of myopia. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2021;62:2.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  4. Lawrenson JG, Shah R, Huntjens B, Downie LE, Virgili G, Dhakal R, et al. Interventions for myopia control in children: a living systematic review and network meta-analysis. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2023;2:Cd014758.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Walline JJ, Lindsley KB, Vedula SS, Cotter SA, Mutti DO, Ng SM, et al. Interventions to slow progression of myopia in children. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2020;1:Cd004916.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Elliott JH, Turner T, Clavisi O, Thomas J, Higgins JP, Mavergames C, et al. Living systematic reviews: an emerging opportunity to narrow the evidence-practice gap. PLoS Med. 2014;11:e1001603.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  7. He X, Sankaridurg P, Xiong S, Li W, Zhang B, Weng R, et al. Shanghai time outside to reduce myopia trial: design and baseline data. Clin Exp Ophthalmol. 2019;47:171–8.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Wolffsohn JS, Kollbaum PS, Berntsen DA, Atchison DA, Benavente A, Bradley A, et al. IMI—clinical myopia control trials and instrumentation report. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2019;60:M132–60.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Bez D, Megreli J, Bez M, Avramovich E, Barak A, Levine H. Association between type of educational system and prevalence and severity of myopia among male adolescents in Israel. JAMA Ophthalmol. 2019;137:887–93.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Foreman J, Salim AT, Praveen A, Fonseka D, Ting DSW, Guang He M, et al. Association between digital smart device use and myopia: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Lancet Digit Health. 2021;3:e806–18.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Santodomingo-Rubido J, Villa-Collar C, Gilmartin B, Gutiérrez-Ortega R. Short-term changes in ocular biometry and refraction after discontinuation of long-term orthokeratology. Eye Contact Lens. 2014;40:84–90.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Sackett DL, Rosenberg WM, Gray JA, Haynes RB, Richardson WS. Evidence based medicine: what it is and what it isn’t. BMJ. 1996;312:71–2.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

Download references

Funding

Funding

SL reported a grant from the National Eye Institute, National Institutes of Health, USA; payment to institution. PN and EV reported none.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biomedical, Surgical and Dental Sciences, University of Milan, Milan, Italy

    Paolo Nucci

  2. Department of Ophthalmology, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, CO, USA

    Su-Hsun Liu

  3. Department of Epidemiology, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, CO, USA

    Su-Hsun Liu

  4. Department of Clinical Science and Community Health, University of Milan, San Giuseppe Hospital, IRCCS Multimedica, Milan, Italy

    Edoardo Villani

Authors
  1. Paolo Nucci
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Su-Hsun Liu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Edoardo Villani
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

All authors contributed to the article concept, manuscript preparation, and revision.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Paolo Nucci.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

PN received fees for lectures from HOYA, Theá, and SIFI in the last 2 years. SL and EV declared no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Nucci, P., Liu, SH. & Villani, E. Cochrane corner: interventions for myopia control in children. Eye 37, 3526–3527 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41433-023-02558-0

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41433-023-02558-0

Search

Advanced search

Quick links