Myopia Resource Center

Myopia Information and Causes

• The March 2015 issue of Nature, the weekly international journal of science, has an excellent summary of myopia rates and why they are growing globally. This article looks at the roles of genetics, ethnicity, near work including screen time and outdoor time on how children’s eyes develop.
• More outdoor time may reduce the risk of myopia in children. So it is critical to try to get your kids outside, especially if there is a family history of myopia. This American Academy of Ophthalmology article summarizes some of the research on outdoor time and provides links to several studies.
• The National Institutes of Health published a landmark study in 2015 confirming an alarming increase in the rate of myopia amongst children in the U.S.
• The World Health Organization in 2019 released a Vision Report in 2019 specifically calling out the increase in myopia globally as a significant public health issue requiring more resources to address.
• Myopia incidence and lifestyle changes among school children during the COVID-19 pandemic: a population-based prospective study
• In 2019, the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) created the Task Force on Myopia in recognition of the substantial global increases in myopia prevalence and its associated complications
• New York Times article on why nearsightedness is on the rise in children.
• The Pandemic Made Kids’ Eyesight Worse, Doctors Say in a 2021 Wall Street Journal article.

Eye Health Risks Associated with Myopia

• This abstract from the National Institutes of Health provides a good summary of the serious eye diseases associated with higher myopia, including retinal disease, glaucoma and cataracts.
• The risk of various eye diseases at different levels of myopia is shown graphically in this downloadable chart from Review of Myopia Management. This chart is helpful to understand your child’s risk of these sight-threatening eye diseases at different levels of myopia.
• Retinal disease is the biggest concern associated with myopia. A meta-analysis of numerous clinical studies was performed in this NIH abstract and concluded that “he burden of myopic macular degeneration blindness and vision impairment will rise significantly without efforts to reduce the development and progression of myopia.”

Myopia Treatment Options

• There are many articles and studies showing the effectiveness of different myopia treatments for children to slow or even stop their myopia from getting worse. This article is an easy read from eye doctors at Bascom Palmer Eye institute is a good overview of treatment options and recommendations for visiting the eye doctor.
• Custom overnight contact lenses are one method of slowing the progression of myopia in children. Science Alert summarized a large UK study of children using this method to treat myopia with excellent results. One added benefit of this treatment method is that children can have clear vision all day without glasses or contact lenses.
• This American Academy of Ophthalmology report summarizes results from using prescription eye drops to treat myopia in children. For younger children or those children whose myopia is progressing rapidly, this can be a good option to start treatment.
• The American Optometric Association has a good summary showing that multifocal soft contact lenses worn during the day can be effective for myopia treatment in children. There are numerous studies with different designs now showing effective results. Treehouse Eyes doctors assess each child individually and can customize the contact lens design for that child’s eye to get the most effective results.

Clinical Studies and Papers on Myopia Treatments

• The International Myopia Institute published an open access article detailing clinical trial guidelines and results from studies of various myopia treatments. One important conclusion from this work is the importance of measuring axial length (the length of the eyeball from front to back) in treating pediatric myopia. Treehouse Eyes doctors have state of the art equipment used to quickly and painlessly measure axial length in children.
• The ATOM2 study provides the greatest information on the effectiveness of prescription eye drops on treating childhood myopia. The ATOM2 abstract is a good summary of the latest research on this type of treatment. Numerous clinical trials are underway on different concentrations of drops to continue to assess the most effective dosing for children.
• One of the best long-term studies of the effect of overnight contact lenses for myopia measured the impact over twelve years of follow up. The study concluded this type of treatment was “ effective in slowing myopia progression over a twelve-year follow-up period and demonstrated a clinically acceptable safety profile.”
• Numerous studies have shown that multifocal soft contact lenses can be effective at slowing myopia progression in children. This abstract summarizes the results over three years in a randomized trial using a specific design that proved very effective at both limiting myopic progression and axial length change.