Myopia Progression Risk: Seasonal and Lifestyle Variations in Axial Length Growth in Czech Children

Abstract

The growth in the prevalence of myopia leads to the growth of socioeconomic stress in society. It is important to detect any potential risk factors leading to myopia onset and progression. Among the potential risk factors, the lack of natural daylight exposure and the lack of the physical activity together with excess of near-work activities in children are the most prevalent. In the study, the axial length growth depending on the season and the type of behaviour was measured. The assessment was performed in 12-year-old children, 398 eyes of whom were included and measured during the winter and summer period. The children were categorized by the amount of time spent on near-work, physical, and outdoor activity. Results. Statistically significantly higher (p < 0.0001) axial length growth was observed during the winter period. Statistically significantly (p < 0.0001) more frequently, the eyeball growth has been proved during the winter season. According to the way of spending leisure time, no statistically significant difference was reported within the individual subgroups in the development of the eyeball length during the observed period. However, statistically significant differences were ascertained in the eyeball initial length within various groups. Conclusion. The lack of daylight exposure may lead to myopia progression.

Axial Length and Prevalence of Myopia among Schoolchildren in the Equatorial Region of Brazil

“…In the current study, the mean AL was 22.98 ± 0.87 mm, and based on the AL, the prevalence of high myopia (AL ≥ 26.0 mm) was 0.48%. These results show a possibility that children in an equatorial area of Brazil might have shorter ALs than those in other studies [ 4 , 24 , 25 , 26 ] ( Figure 4 ). A search of PubMed was undertaken for articles including the search terms “axial length”, “children”, and “myopia”, and we chose the references in which the age was the same as in our study (7 and 12 years old) and the studies that included more than 300 participants.…”

“…A search of PubMed was undertaken for articles including the search terms “axial length”, “children”, and “myopia”, and we chose the references in which the age was the same as in our study (7 and 12 years old) and the studies that included more than 300 participants. In the current study, the mean ALs of the schoolchildren aged 7 and 12 years were 22.63 and 23.29 mm, respectively, which were the shortest among these studies [ 4 , 24 , 25 , 26 ] ( Figure 4 A,B). Possible reasons why the mean ALs of the schoolchildren aged 7 and 12 years in the current study were the shortest among these studies [ 4 , 24 , 25 , 26 ] are race and extended time of outdoor activity.…”

The Synergistic Effects of Orthokeratology and Atropine in Slowing the Progression of Myopia

“…Myopia patients treated with 0.125% atropine were collected from July 2014 to August 2014 and those treated with 0.025% atropine were collected from November 2014 to December 2014. It is known that the myopia progression is slower in summer than in winter [ 34 , 35 , 36 ], therefore, we enrolled different groups of patients to evaluate the efficacy of OA and OK. All patients had a visual acuity with near and distance correction of 0.01 logMAR (20/20) or better, as determined by the Landolt CETDRS Distance Chart. Best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) measurements were performed between 2 and 4 o’clock in the afternoon.…”

School-based programme to address childhood myopia in Singapore

“…(22) Lack of daylight exposure, specifically, has been shown to lead to myopia progression. (23,24) Sporting activity was shown to be preventive against myopia progression, while near work and computer work could be a risk factor for myopia progression if children spent at least three hours a day on these outside of school-related work. (22) Among primary school students, female students were found to have higher rates of myopia in each year except for 2015, when rates among male students were higher for the first time (Fig.…”