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SYSTEMATIC REVIEW article

Front. Public Health
Sec. Public Mental Health
Volume 12 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2024.1452567
This article is part of the Research Topic Mind-body medicine and its impacts on psychological networks, quality of life, and health - Volume II View all 19 articles

Efficacy of outdoor interventions for myopia in children and adolescents: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

Provisionally accepted
Zhengyang Mei Zhengyang Mei Yuanzhuo Zhang Yuanzhuo Zhang Wenfeng Jiang Wenfeng Jiang Chifong Lam Chifong Lam Shulai Luo Shulai Luo Chenyi Cai Chenyi Cai Shi Luo Shi Luo *
  • Southwest University, Chongqing, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Objectives: The objective of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to evaluate the overall efficacy of outdoor interventions for myopia in children and adolescents, and to provide evidence for the prevention and control of myopia. Methods: Randomized controlled trials of outdoor interventions for myopia in children and adolescents were identified using electronic databases and manual searches. The Revised Cochrane risk-of-bias tool for randomized trials (RoB 2) was used to assess risk of bias in randomized controlled trials. A mean difference (MD) and a risk ratio (RR) with a 95% confidence interval (CI) were used to combine effect sizes. A sensitivity analysis was performed for each outcome using a stepwise elimination method to assess whether the pooled results were significantly affected by individual studies. Results: The analysis included seven randomized controlled trials involving a total of 9437 subjects. The meta-analysis showed marked and statistically significant improvements in spherical equivalent refraction (MD = 0.19; 95% CI 0.14 to 0.25; p < 0.01), axial length (MD = -0.09; 95% CI -0.13 to -0.05; p < 0.01), and myopia incidence (RR = 0.84; 95% CI 0.78 to 0.91; p < 0.01) following outdoor interventions. Conclusions: Outdoor interventions effectively contributed to the prevention and control of myopia in children and adolescents, positively impacting spherical equivalent refraction, axial length, and myopia incidence. Outdoor interventions were characterized by low risk and high therapeutic benefits and could serve as alternative or adjuvant approaches to medication for the treatment of myopia. Considering the advantages in terms of safety and efficacy, outdoor interventions may be considered as a preferred intervention for the treatment of myopia in children and adolescents, while susceptibility to diseases associated with sunlight, particularly UV exposure must be taken into account.

    Keywords: Children, adolescents, Outdoor interventions, Myopia, Meta-analysis

    Received: 21 Jun 2024; Accepted: 29 Jul 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Mei, Zhang, Jiang, Lam, Luo, Cai and Luo. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Shi Luo, Southwest University, Chongqing, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.