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Eight-Year Post-Trial Outcomes of a Two-Year Clinical Trial of DIMS Spectacle Lenses
Han Yu Zhang1,2,3, Tsz Wing Leung4,5, Paul Lee6
1School of Medicine, Nankai University, Tianjin, China. hanyuzhang@nankai.edu.cn.
Purpose:
This observational follow-up evaluated the long-term efficacy of Defocus Incorporated Multiple Segments (DIMS) spectacle lenses in children over 8 years and identified factors that influence the treatment response, particularly baseline relative peripheral refraction (RPR).
Methods:
Data from an 8-year study of DIMS lens myopia control effectiveness was reviewed retrospectively. Participants were analysed by types of lens wear (DIMS vs. single vision (SV)) and categorised by baseline RPR. Effectiveness was calculated by comparing the 8-year DIMS subgroup against historical controls, with analyses including and excluding participants with myopic RPR.
Results:
Sixty participants who completed the previous 6-year follow up, attended the 8+ year investigation: 38 and 22 exhibited hyperopic and myopic RPR at baseline, respectively. Among continuous DIMS lens wear (n = 14) for the whole period, the myopic RPR subgroup (n = 4) showed statistically significantly greater axial elongation than the hyperopic RPR subgroup (n = 10) between 6 to 8+ years (mean difference: 0.17 ± 0.06 mm, p = 0.009). Excluding myopic RPR participants, DIMS wearers exhibited a statistically significant reduction in axial elongation compared with SV wearers (mean difference: 0.13 ± 0.05 mm, p = 0.009), though myopia progression did not differ significantly (p = 0.12). Over the full 8+ year period, DIMS wearers with hyperopic RPR (n = 10) achieved a 56% myopia control effectiveness compared with the historical control group (n = 62), with a statistically significant reduction in axial elongation of 0.57 mm (p < 0.0001).
Conclusions:
This study represents the longest post-trial follow-up investigation of DIMS spectacle lenses for myopia control to date. Baseline RPR modified the long-term response to DIMS spectacle lenses: children with myopic RPR showed reduced efficacy and may require alternative or adjunctive strategies, whereas in those with hyperopic RPR, treatment effect was maintained for more than 8 years, extending beyond childhood into young adulthood. Therefore, baseline RPR assessment may inform personalised myopia control prescribing.
