Variations in Physiological and Myopic Eye Growth Among Children From Different Populations.

Area of Science:

• Ophthalmology
• Pediatric Ophthalmology
• Myopia Research

Background:

• Myopia is a growing global health concern, particularly in East Asian populations.
• Understanding ethnic and geographic variations in eye growth is crucial for accurate myopia progression assessment.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate and compare physiological and myopic eye growth in Wenzhou, China, schoolchildren with other international cohorts.
• To provide data for interpreting myopia control efficacy related to axial elongation.

Main Methods:

• Prospective observational cohort study of 700 nonmyopic and 297 myopic schoolchildren (aged 7-9 years) in Wenzhou, China (WEPrOM study).
• Axial length (AL) measurements were used to calculate eye growth over 4.5 years.
• Logistic function models described eye growth; data compared with OLSM, SCORM, and Chinese retrospective studies.

Main Results:

• In the WEPrOM study, predicted physiological eye growth ranged from 0.22 to 0.12 mm/year and myopic eye growth from 0.52 to 0.27 mm/year (ages 7-12).
• Physiological eye growth in Wenzhou was comparable to other Chinese cohorts but higher than in Singaporean (SCORM) and US (OLSM) cohorts.
• Myopic eye growth in Wenzhou was comparable to other Chinese cohorts but higher than in SCORM and OLSM cohorts.

Conclusions:

• Significant differences exist in physiological and myopic eye growth rates across diverse ethnic and national populations.
• Accurate interpretation of myopia control interventions requires using physiological eye growth data from similar source populations.