Higher spherical equivalent refractive errors is associated with slower axial elongation wearing orthokeratology

To investigate the relationship between axial length (AL) increase and baseline spherical equivalent refractive errors (SER) in myopic children wearing orthokeratology contact lenses (OK).

One hundred fifteen Chinese (115 right eyes) children wearing OK were enrolled in this cohort study. Gender, age, baseline SER, corneal power, corneal astigmatism, and AL at baseline and 2 years after wearing OK were collected. Univariate analysis and trend test were used to estimate the relationship between change in AL and baseline SER.

After univariate analysis, a statistically significant relationship was found between change in AL and baseline SER (β=0.061, 95% CI: 0.015-0.111, P=0.015). In the trend test, after adjusting for potential confounders, higher SER was associated with smaller increases in AL (P trend=0.041).

The SER at baseline was associated with AL growth in myopic children wearing OK. The higher SER was associated with slower AL growth and control the development of myopia.