Orthokeratology is a means to control the progression of myopia (nearsightedness) especially in children.
A meta-analysis (a review of other studies) of orthokeratology for myopia control reports on 7 of 22 studies that were deemed appropriate. Overall, these studies suggest the efficacy of orthokeratology in reducing axial elongation and thus the delay of myopia progression.
The authors conclude that additional studies are required to determine the lasting effects of orthokeratology in myopia control.
METHODS
A literature search was performed in PubMed, Embase, and the Cochrane Library. Methodological quality of the literature was evaluated according to the Jadad score. The statistical analysis was carried out using RevMan 5.2.6 software.
RESULTS
The present meta-analysis included seven studies (two randomized controlled trials and five nonrandomized controlled trials) with 435 subjects (orthokeratology group, 218; control group, 217) aged 6 to 16 years. The follow-up time was 2 years for the seven studies. The weighted mean difference was -0.26 mm (95% confidence interval, -0.31 to -0.21; p < 0.001) for axial length elongation based on data from seven studies and -0.18 mm (95% confidence interval, -0.33 to -0.03; p = 0.02) for vitreous chamber depth elongation based on data from two studies.
CONCLUSIONS
Our results suggest that orthokeratology may slow myopia progression in children. Further large-scale studies are needed to substantiate the current result and to investigate the long-term effects of orthokeratology in myopia control.
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