Should we be treating all our myopic patients the same?
Myopia case numbers are rising and treatment options vary, but are optometrists keeping an open mind on its causes and management? Adrian O’Dowd investigates.
Domains covered
Communication
Clinical practice
Myopia management is increasingly important as cases of myopia and high myopia rise around the world. In the UK, a fifth of teenagers have myopia (Logan et al, 2011; O’Donoghue et al, 2010 ), often starting from the age of six. Myopia is now more than twice as common among UK children as it was in the 1960s: 16.4% of children are affected compared with 7.2% in the 1960s (McCullough et al, 2016 ).
This trend may accelerate even more because of the increased screen time seen in children during COVID-19 lockdown periods and more time being spent indoors generally (Wang et al, 2021 ).
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