The whole life cycle myopia management.

Abstract

Myopia stands as a prevalent ocular condition with global implications, impacting individuals at various life stages. In school-age children and adolescents, uncorrected myopia impedes reading and academic performance. Among middle-aged and elderly populations, myopia poses severe risks such as macular degeneration, macular holes and retinal detachment, leading to irreversible visual impairment. The term "myopia management" is widely embraced by ophthalmic practitioners and optometry associations worldwide, encompassing strategies to correct refractive errors and ongoing assessment of disease progression, aiming to reduce the progression of myopia and axial elongation. To date, current management strategies for myopia include public health policies, optical solutions, medical interventions and surgical options, but these interventions are general and lack age specificity. Despite existing interventions, we propose the concept of "Whole Life Cycle Myopia Management" in this review. This approach outlined major risk factors of myopia through the whole life cycle, discussed current interventions for myopia and provided age-specific management strategies for myopia of eight different life stages-infancies, toddlers, preschoolers, school-age children, adolescents, young adults, middle-age and old-age, including the prevention of myopia onset, slowing of myopia progression and monitoring of myopia complications. Achieving the "Whole Life Cycle Myopia Management" requires collaborations efforts from government, schools, hospitals and families, to restore vision and enhance the quality of life for those individuals affected by myopia.