Topical review: studies on management of myopia progression from 2019 to 2021

Myopia is a common eye condition that increases the risk of sight-threatening complications. Each additional diopter increases the chance of complications. The purpose of this review is to make an overview of myopia control treatment options for children with myopia progression. In this non-systematic review, we searched PubMed and Cochrane databases for English-language studies published from 2019 through September 2021. Emphasis was given to a selection of randomized controlled trials. Nineteen randomized controlled trials and two retrospective studies were included. Topical atropine and orthokeratology remain the most used treatments, while lenses with novel designs are emerging treatments. Overall myopia progression in the treatment groups for low-dose atropine and orthokeratology were lower than in the control groups and their efficacy was reported in several randomized controlled trials and confirmed by various systematic reviews and meta-analysis. The findings of myopia progression and axial elongation for the MiSight, defocus incorporated multiple segments spectacle lens, highly aspherical lenslets and diffusion optics technology spectacle lens was comparable. Public health interventions to optimize environmental influences may also be important strategies to control myopia. The optimal choice of management of myopia depends on treatment availability, acceptability to the child and parents, and specific patient features such as age, baseline myopia, and lifestyle. Eye care providers need to understand the advantages and disadvantages of each therapy to best counsel parents of children with myopia.