Global trends in myopia management attitudes and strategies in clinical practice

Abstract

Regardless of practitioners' awareness of the efficacy of myopia control techniques, the vast majority still prescribe single vision interventions to young myopes. In view of the increasing prevalence of myopia and existing evidence for interventions to slow myopia progression, clear guidelines for myopia management need to be established.

We are being myopic about myopia control

“…Although the mechanism by which orthokeratology reduces myopia progression has not been firmly established, it is widely assumed that the mid-peripheral thickening, brought about by the re-distribution of epithelial cells as a result of the central flattening of the lens, increases the power of the mid periphery, effectively reducing peripheral hyperopic defocus. Orthokeratology studies have yielded consistent levels of myopia retardation of around 50% [2]. Despite the efficacy of orthokeratology, and the obvious lifestyle benefits it offers, it only constitutes 1% of new CL fits worldwide.…”

“…Non-pharmaceutical myopia control has been shown to reduce myopia progression by between 20 and 50% [2]. Although on the face of it, these figures appear modest, recent papers have put these values into context.…”

“…According the myopia global myopia management survey [2], the most common reasons practitioners gave for not adopting myopia control strategies related to concerns about efficacy, safety and cost. Those practitioners who only prescribed single vision spectacles or contact lenses reported that there was inadequate information available to them.…”

“…As the global myopia management survey [2] suggests, clear clinical management guidelines would be useful so that all myopic patients can be managed consistently and effectively, decreasing their relative risk of progression and/or complications and increasing their quality-of-life. The UK Myopia Consortium, which is led by Dr Nicola Logan, Senior Lecturer at Aston University, and includes myopia researchers from across the UK, is currently working towards this goal.…”

The Influence of the Autonomic Nervous System on the Human Choroid

“…The occurrence of myopia has approximately doubled in the past three decades (Wolffsohn et al, 2016) reaching epidemic levels. It has been estimated that in the next 10 years, 2.5 billion people worldwide will have myopia, more than 10% of these people (375 million) will have high myopia, and 49 million will develop severe visual impairment (Holden et al, 2016).…”