Homemade Chinese herbal fumigation eye patch prevents myopia in children and adolescents

Objective: To demonstrate the clinical efficacy of a homemade Chinese herbal fumigation eye patch in the prevention and treatment of myopia in children and adolescents. Methods: In this retrospective study, participants were grouped according to different intervention methods. A primary school was selected, wherein 50 myopic stu-dents in each grade and a total of 300 from the 6 grades were selected as the observation group. According to the 1:1 matching principle, another 300 myopic students matched with the uncorrected visual acuity (UCVA), gender, and class were selected as the control group. The observation group was treated with the Chinese herbal fumigation patch, once daily between 12:00 and 13:00, 10-15 min/time, for 30 consecutive days. The control group did not get any intervention measures. The UCVA, diopter (D), and axial length (AXL) of both groups were recorded on the 1st, 15th, and 30th day after enrollment. Results: Six hundred children and adolescents, including 324 males and 276 females with an average age of (8.8 +/- 2.3) years and UCVA of (4.51 +/- 0.37), were included, with none lost to follow up. No statistical significance was determined in pre-interventional TCM syndrome distribution, D and AXL between groups (all P > 0.05). Univariate analysis identified that the UCVA of the observation group changed with time (P < 0.05), presenting a linear trend (P < 0.05). In the control group, the changes in UCVA, D, and AXL over time were also statistically significant (all P < 0.05), and the reverse changes showed a linear trend with statistical significance (all P < 0.05). Multivariate analysis determined the presence of statistical inter-group differences in UCVA, D, and AXL (all P < 0.05), as well as an interaction between grouping and time. Conclusions: The homemade Chinese herbal fu-migation eye patch can improve UCVA, delaying D deterioration and preventing eye axial lengthening among myopic children and adolescents, with clinical popularization value.