Rapid progression of myopia at onset during home confinement

Area of Science:

• Ophthalmology
• Pediatric Ophthalmology
• Public Health

Background:

• Myopia onset and progression are significant concerns in pediatric populations.
• The COVID-19 pandemic introduced unprecedented environmental changes, including widespread home confinement.
• These changes may have impacted visual development and refractive error progression in children.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate if the rate of myopic shift during the onset of myopia was accelerated in children during COVID-19 pandemic home confinement.
• To compare the annualized myopic shift before and during the pandemic period.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective data collection of refractive error for children aged 5-18 with new-onset myopia between September 2020 and May 2021.
• Inclusion criteria required a history of cycloplegic spherical equivalent in the emmetropic range one and two years prior to the study visit.
• Calculation of annualized mean myopic shifts for two pre-pandemic periods and the pandemic period.

Main Results:

• Thirty-nine children (59% girls) were enrolled, with a mean age of 10.79 years.
• The mean annualized myopic shift was -0.37 D before the pandemic and significantly increased to -1.12 D during the pandemic home confinement period (P < 0.001).
• Refractive error progressed from +0.29 D in 2018 to -0.12 D in 2019, and -1.33 D at the enrollment visit during the pandemic.

Conclusions:

• The study indicates a significantly higher rate of myopic shift during the strict home confinement period of the COVID-19 pandemic.
• These findings suggest that environmental factors associated with pandemic-related restrictions can accelerate myopia progression in children.
• The observed myopic shift during confinement exceeded rates reported in previous pre-pandemic studies.