Two-Year Efficacy of Cylindrical Annular Refractive Elements Spectacle Lenses for Myopia Control in European Children

To evaluate the 2-year efficacy of cylindrical annular refractive elements (CARE) spectacle lenses in slowing myopia progression in European children.

Multicenter, double-masked, randomized controlled trial.

Children aged 6 to 13 years with documented myopia progression of at least < -0.50 diopters (D) in the preceding 12 months.

Participants were assigned to CARE or single-vision lenses (SVL). Cycloplegic spherical equivalent (SE) and axial length (AL) were measured at baseline, 12, and 24 months.

Changes in SE and AL over 24 months, and the proportion of rapid progressors (defined as SE change ≤ -0.75 D and AL increase ≥ +0.30 mm over 24 months).

Of the 234 enrolled children, 208 completed the 24-month follow-up. At baseline, mean age was 10.0 ± 1.9 years and mean SE was -2.20 ± 0.94 D. All participants met the inclusion criterion of documented myopia progression of at least -0.50 D in the preceding 12 months. At 12 months, CARE lenses slowed both SE and AL progression compared with SVL (both P < 0.001). At 24 months, myopia progression remains lower with CARE than SVL lenses in SE (-0.32 ± 0.20 D vs. -0.69 ± 0.18 D; P < 0.001) and AL (0.21 ± 0.11 mm vs. 0.43 ± 0.10 mm; P < 0.001). Moreover, the proportion of rapid progressors was lower in the CARE than in the SVL group (30.8% vs. 71.4%; P < 0.001). Younger children in the SVL group progressed faster, while CARE lenses mitigated age-related differences.

Cylindrical annular refractive elements lenses effectively slowed myopia progression in European children, with sustained efficacy over 2 years.

Proprietary or commercial disclosure may be found in the Footnotes and Disclosures at the end of this article.