Eye care practitioners’ attitudes towards myopia management in the UK

Several myopia management options are now available in the UK for children with progressing myopia. These include specialised soft contact lenses, spectacle lenses and orthokeratology. However, many eligible children are still being prescribed single vision correction, and it is unclear why this may be.

Until now, there has been limited peer-reviewed research into eye care professionals’ (ECPs) attitudes towards myopia and myopia management in the UK. The qualitative nature of this study allowed us to gather detailed information from ECPs directly, relating to their current experiences of prescribing myopia management and their thoughts and opinions on the area.

The aim of this research was to determine current barriers that may be limiting the prescribing or uptake of myopia management. From mid to late 2022, we conducted several focus groups with 41 ECPs from primary and secondary care: optometrists, pre-registration optometrists, dispensing opticians, contact lens opticians, ophthalmologists and an orthoptist.