The most likely effective treatment to slow myopia progression thus far is anti-muscarinic topical medication. However, side effects of these medications include light sensitivity and near blur. Also, they are not yet commercially available, so their use is limited and not practical. Further information is required for other methods of myopia control, such as the use of corneal reshaping contact lenses or bifocal soft contact lenses (BSCLs) with a distance center are promising, but currently no published randomized clinical trials exist.
The effectiveness of progressive addition lenses on the progression of myopia in Chinese children.
To evaluate the effectiveness of progressive addition lenses (PALs), with a near addition of +1.50 D, on the progression of myopia in Chinese children.
                We enrolled 178 Chinese juvenile-onset acquired myopes (aged 7-13 years, -0.50 to -3.00 D spherical refractive error), who did not have moderately or highly myopic parents, for a 2-year prospective study. They were randomly assigned to the PAL group or single vision (SV) group. Primary measurements, which included myopia progression and ocular biometry, were performed every 6 months. Treatment effect was adjusted for important covariates, by using a multiple linear regression model.
                One hundred and forty-nine subjects (75 in SV and 74 in PAL) completed the 2-year study. The myopia progression (mean +/- S.D.) in the SV and PAL groups was -1.50 +/- 0.67 and -1.24 +/- 0.56 D, respectively. This difference of 0.26 D over 2 years was statistically significant (p = 0.01). The lens type (p = 0.02) and baseline spherical equivalent refraction (p = 0.05) were significant contributing factors to myopia progression. Mean increase in the depth of vitreous chamber was 0.70 +/- 0.40 and 0.59 +/- 0.24 mm, respectively. This difference of 0.11 mm was statistically significant (p = 0.04). Age (p < 0.01) was the only contributing factor to the elongation of vitreous chamber. Different near phoria (p < 0.01) and gender (p = 0.02) caused different treatment effects when wearing SV lenses. However, there were no factors found to influence the treatment effect of wearing PALs.
                Compared with SV lenses, myopia progression was found to be retarded by PALs to some extent in Chinese children without moderately or highly myopic parents, especially for subjects with near esophoria or females.