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. 2021 May;31(3):853-883.
doi: 10.1177/1120672121998960. Epub 2021 Mar 5.

Update and guidance on management of myopia. European Society of Ophthalmology in cooperation with International Myopia Institute

János Németh  1 , Beáta Tapasztó  1   2 , Wagih A Aclimandos  3 , Philippe Kestelyn  4 , Jost B Jonas  5 , Jan-Tjeerd H N De Faber  6 , Ingrida Januleviciene  7 , Andrzej Grzybowski  8   9 , Zoltán Zsolt Nagy  1 , Olavi Pärssinen  10 , Jeremy A Guggenheim  11 , Peter M Allen  12 , Rigmor C Baraas  13 , Kathryn J Saunders  14 , Daniel Ian Flitcroft  15   16 , Lyle S Gray  17 , Jan Roelof Polling  18   19 , Annechien Eg Haarman  18 , J Willem L Tideman  18 , James Stuart Wolffsohn  20 , Siegfried Wahl  21   22 , Jeroen A Mulder  19 , Irina Yurievna Smirnova  23 , Marino Formenti  24 , Hema Radhakrishnan  25 , Serge Resnikoff  26   27
Affiliations

Update and guidance on management of myopia. European Society of Ophthalmology in cooperation with International Myopia Institute

János Németh et al. Eur J Ophthalmol. 2021 May.

Abstract

The prevalence of myopia is increasing extensively worldwide. The number of people with myopia in 2020 is predicted to be 2.6 billion globally, which is expected to rise up to 4.9 billion by 2050, unless preventive actions and interventions are taken. The number of individuals with high myopia is also increasing substantially and pathological myopia is predicted to become the most common cause of irreversible vision impairment and blindness worldwide and also in Europe. These prevalence estimates indicate the importance of reducing the burden of myopia by means of myopia control interventions to prevent myopia onset and to slow down myopia progression. Due to the urgency of the situation, the European Society of Ophthalmology decided to publish this update of the current information and guidance on management of myopia. The pathogenesis and genetics of myopia are also summarized and epidemiology, risk factors, preventive and treatment options are discussed in details.

Keywords: Myopia; atropine; blindness; myopia reduction interventions; orthokeratology; pathologic myopia; preventive medicine; time spent outdoors.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of conflicting interests: The author(s) declared the following potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: JBJ discloses patent application: “Agents for use in the therapeutic or prophylactic treatment of myopia or hyperopia” (European patent application 16 720 043.5 and US patent application US 2019 0085065 A1). AG reports grants from Alcon, Zeiss, Topcon, Bausch, personal fees, and non-financial support from Santen, Thea, Polpharma, and Pfizer, outside the submitted work. JAG is unpaid Consultant for CooperVision Inc. KJS is funded by Nevakar Inc as part of their EU/US low dose atropine trial. JRP is consultant for Nevakar. JSW is on the advisory board of Alcon, Nevakar, and Novars. SW is employee of Carl Zeiss Vision International GmbH. The other authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Model of the visually regulated control of eye growth and refractive state (with permission from IMI).
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Estimated increase in the prevalence (%) of myopia in three European regions. Adapted from article of Holden et al.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Myopia prevalence in East Asia (dot) and in Europe (triangle) in different age groups of children (linear trend lines) (data published 1999–2020).–,–,,
Figure 4.
Figure 4.
Myopia prevalence in France 2012–2013 across the different age groups. Adapted from article of Matamaros et al.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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