Abstract
Purpose :
To investigate how optometrists in Hong Kong are managing their young myopic and “pre-myopic” patients.
Methods :
Clinical files for children aged 6 to 10 years old who had eye examination by the same optometrist during the period from 2017 to 2021 were retrospectively reviewed. Children were grouped according to the spherical equivalent refractive error (SER) at their initial visit as myopes (SER ≤-0.50D) or pre-myopes (-0.50D<SER ≤+0.75D). The demographic data, refractive error of children as well as the myopia management recommended by the optometrists were analyzed.
Results :
There were 1326 eligible children (862 myopes and 464 pre-myopes) in the investigation and they were collected from ten different clinics in Hong Kong. Over 5 years, the recommended myopia management patterns changed significantly for all children (p < 0.001) (Figure 1). Only 14.1% children were recommended to take myopia control (MC) in 2017, while the proportion increased to 42.1% in 2021. The recommendation of MC spectacle lenses accounted for 7.3% in 2017 and increased to the highest proportion with 36.8% in 2021. The recommendation of ortho-keratology (OK) lenses and MC contact lenses (CL) were stable at less than 5% approximately over 5 years. Atropine was the least recommended method, which was less than 1%. Children recommended with MC approaches had significantly more myopia than children recommended with single vision (SV) lenses or no recommendation (p< 0.05) (Figure 2). Over 5 years, 503 myopes and 132 pre-myopes were recommended to modify the myopia management, among them, 73.3% children were advised to control myopia. Modification time (the period between the first visit to this practitioner and modified myopia management) was positively associated with the SER of the first visit (r = 0.255, p< 0.001). Age of first visit had a significant negative association with SER change from first visit to modification time (r = -0.084, p = 0.035).
Conclusions :
Myopia management patterns were changed in Hong Kong clinical practices from 2017 to 2021, with more children suggested to control myopia. MC spectacle lenses were the most recommended method, while Atropine was the least recommended method. Practitioners modified myopia management earlier for children who presented with more myopia in the first visit. More myopic progression was seen in younger children prior to recommending myopia control.
This abstract was presented at the 2024 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Seattle, WA, May 5-9, 2024.