Red light treatment has ‘stronger impact’ on myopic than pre-myopic children

Repeated low-level red light (RLRL) treatment during a 12 month trial effectively delayed myopia progression in children, with a stronger impact on myopic than pre-myopic children, scientists in China reported.

Between March 2022 and May 2023, researchers from the Tianjin Medical University Eye Hospital conducted a study to compare the effects on RLRL treatment on axial length growth and refractive error changes.

A total of 104 participants completed the trial, split into myopia (M-RL), myopia-control (M-C), pre-myopia (PM-RL) and pre-myopia control subgroups (PM-C), each receiving three minute RLRL treatments twice a day, seven days per week.

Follow up treatments were scheduled at one month, three month, six month and 12 months with repeated measures analysis of variance used to compare spherical equivalent refractive errors (SE) and axial length (AL).