Single-vision spectacle use and myopia progression in children with low myopia, a propensity score matching study

Purpose To investigate the impact of single-vision spectacle use on myopia progression in children with low myopia. Methods MYOSOTIS is a prospective myopia screening survey including all 46 primary and junior high schools in two districts of Hangzhou, China. After 1-to-1 propensity score matching (PSM), 1,685 pairs of students with low myopia were included. Group 1 was composed of 1,685 non-spectacle users at baseline, and group 2 consisted of 1,685 spectacle wearers at both survey rounds. Refraction was examined by noncycloplegic autorefraction and mean spherical equivalent refraction (SER) of both eyes was analyzed. Myopia progression was measured by average rate of change in SER (r increment SER) between two survey rounds and compared between the two groups. Results After PSM, no significant difference in age, sex ratio, SER, and uncorrected visual acuity (VA) between the two groups was found at baseline. For myopic progression, r increment SER showed no significant difference between the two groups (- 0.67 +/- 0.97 versus - 0.69 +/- 0.81 diopter/year, P = 0.448). After adjusting for age, sex, SER, and VA, the difference in r increment SER between the two groups was not significant (- 0.031, 95% CI - 0.089 similar to 0.028 diopter/year, P = 0.302). In the subgroup analyses stratified by age and SER, and in the sensitivity analyses by eye side, there was still no significant difference in myopia progression between the two groups. Conclusions Our study indicates that single-vision spectacle use has no impact on myopia progression in children with low myopia. Spectacles are recommended in children with low myopia if their visual acuity has interfered with the daily life.