Sustained and rebound effect of repeated low-level red-light therapy on myopia control: A 2-year post-trial follow-up study

Ruilin Xiong, Zhuoting Zhu, Yu Jiang, Xiangbin Kong, Jian Zhang, Wei Wang, Katerina Kiburg, Yixiong Yuan, Yanping Chen, Shiran Zhang, Meng Xuan, Junwen Zeng, Ian G. Morgan, Mingguang He*

*Corresponding author for this work

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    41 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    Background: To evaluate the long-term efficacy and safety of continued repeated low-level red-light (RLRL) therapy on myopia control over 2 years, and the potential rebound effect after treatment cessation. Methods: The Chinese myopic children who originally completed the one-year randomised controlled trial were enrolled. Children continued RLRL-therapy were defined as RLRL-RLRL group, while those who stopped and switched to single-vision spectacle (SVS) in the second year were RLRL-SVS group. Likewise, those who continued to merely wear SVS or received additional RLRL-therapy were SVS-SVS and SVS-RLRL groups, respectively. RLRL-therapy was provided by an at-home desktop light device emitting red-light of 650 nm and was administered for 3 min at a time, twice a day and 5 days per week. Changes in axial length (AL) and cycloplegic spherical equivalence refraction (SER) were measured. Results: Among the 199 children who were eligible, 138 (69.3%) children attended the examination and 114 (57.3%) were analysed (SVS-SVS: n = 41; SVS-RLRL: n = 10; RLRL-SVS: n = 52; RLRL-RLRL: n = 11). The baseline characteristics were balanced among four groups. In the second year, the mean changes in AL were 0.28 ± 0.14 mm, 0.05 ± 0.24 mm, 0.42 ± 0.20 mm and 0.12 ± 0.16 mm in SVS-SVS, SVS-RLRL, RLRL-SVS and RLRL-RLRL group, respectively (p < 0.001). The respective mean SER changes were −0.54 ± 0.39D, −0.09 ± 0.55D, −0.91 ± 0.48D, and −0.20 ± 0.56D (p < 0.001). Over the 2-year period, axial elongation and SER progression were smallest in RLRL-RLRL group (AL: 0.16 ± 0.37 mm; SER: −0.31 ± 0.79D), followed by SVS-RLRL (AL: 0.44 ± 0.37 mm; SER: −0.96 ± 0.70D), RLRL-SVS (AL: 0.50 ± 0.28 mm; SER: −1.07 ± 0.69D) and SVS-SVS group (AL: 0.64 ± 0.29 mm; SER: −1.24 ± 0.63D). No self-reported adverse events, functional or structural damages were noted. Conclusions: Continued RLRL therapy sustained promising efficacy and safety in slowing myopia progression over 2 years. A modest rebound effect was noted after treatment cessation.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)1013-1024
    Number of pages12
    JournalClinical and Experimental Ophthalmology
    Volume50
    Issue number9
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - Dec 2022

    Fingerprint

    Dive into the research topics of 'Sustained and rebound effect of repeated low-level red-light therapy on myopia control: A 2-year post-trial follow-up study'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

    Cite this