Quantifying the impact of mild and moderate myopia on attention in school-age children through eye tracking

By utilizing eye-tracking data, this study aims to evaluate the impact of both mild and moderate myopia and different refractive correction methods on certain types of attention of school-age children.

In this prospective case-control study, data was collected from 90 children aged 8 to 10 years old. Participants were classified into three groups based on their spherical lens: mild myopia group (SE: ≤ - 0.50D and > - 3.00D), moderate myopia group (SE: ≤ - 3.00D and > - 6.00D), and control group (SE: ≤ + 0.50D and > - 0.50D). Additionally, children with myopia were subdivided into three subgroups based on refractive correction methods: the uncorrected group, the spectacles corrected group, and the orthokeratology lenses group. The eye-tracking system was used to record and compare attention assessment metrics, including saccade latency, total search time, and saccade accuracy. To enhance result reproducibility, MoCA scale scores were used as a control method to measure attention.

When categorized by refraction, MoCA scale scores were lower in the moderate myopia group compared to the control group (p = 0.011). Saccade latency and total search time were slower in both the mild and moderate myopia groups compared to the control group (p < 0.001). A weak positive correlation was observed between spherical lens and total search time (r = 0.260, p = 0.045). When grouped according to correction method, statistically significant differences in saccade latency were evident across all groups (all p < 0.001); the uncorrected group had the longest latency, whereas the orthokeratology lenses group had the shortest. The orthokeratology lenses group exhibited a shorter total search time compared to the uncorrected group (p = 0.018).

Affected by myopia, impairments and deficits in attention may occur in school-age children and worsen with the progression of myopia. These cognitive dysfunction can be alleviated by timely refractive correction during the plastic cognitive stage. Compared to the spectacles corrected group, the orthokeratology lenses group showed greater improvement in attention among myopic children.

• Myopia can affect people's cognition, function, emotions, and so on.

• We cites eye-movement indicators to quantify the impact of myopia on attention. • Most people study myopic adults, but we selects school-age children whose cognition is in the plasticity period.