Age, ethnicity are factors in rate of myopia progression, axial elongation

The speed of myopia progression and axial elongation are affected by ethnicity and age, according to a recent study.

Leslie Hyman, PhD, and colleagues analyzed data from the Correction of Myopia Evaluation Trial to identify the baseline factors independently related to 3-year myopia progression and axial elongation. In the COMET, 469 myopic children were randomly assigned to progressive addition lenses or single vision lenses.

“Younger baseline age was the strongest factor independently associated with faster myopic progression and greater axial elongation at 3 years,” the researchers said.

The children enrolled in the study were 6 to 11 years old and had spherical equivalent myopia ranging from –1.25 to -4.50 D bilaterally.

The study found that 6- and 7-year-old children had the fastest rate of myopia progression of all age groups, progressing by a mean of 1.31 D more than the 11-year-old children.

The researchers also found that black children had less myopic progression and axial elongation than children of mixed, Hispanic, Asian or white ethnicity.

The study is published in the July issue of Archives of Ophthalmology.