Centre for Ophthalmology and Visual Science (incorporating the Lions Eye Institute), University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, Australia.
Centre for Eye Research Ireland, School of Physics, Clinical and Optometric Sciences, Technological University Dublin, Dublin, Ireland.
Transl Vis Sci Technol. 2023 Aug 1;12(8):14. doi: 10.1167/tvst.12.8.14.
Treatments are available to slow myopic axial elongation. Understanding normal axial length (AL) distributions will assist clinicians in choosing appropriate treatment for myopia. We report the distribution of AL in Australians of different age groups and refractive errors.
Retrospectively collected spherical equivalent refraction (SER) and AL data of 5938 individuals aged 5 to 89 years from 8 Australian studies were included. Based on the SER, participants were classified as emmetropes, myopes, and hyperopes. Two regression model parameterizations (piece-wise and restricted cubic splines [RCS]) were applied to the cross-sectional data to analyze the association between age and AL. These results were compared with longitudinal data from the Raine Study where the AL was measured at age 20 (baseline) and 28 years.
A piece-wise regression model (with 1 knot) showed that myopes had a greater increase in AL before 18 years by 0.119 mm/year (P < 0.001) and after 18 years by 0.011 mm/year (P < 0.001) compared to emmetropes and hyperopes, with the RCS model (with 3 knots) showing similar results. The longitudinal data from the Raine Study revealed that, when compared to emmetropes, only myopes showed a significant change in the AL in young adulthood (by 0.016 mm/year, P < 0.001).
The AL of myopic eyes increases more rapidly in childhood and slightly in early adulthood. Further studies of longitudinal changes in AL, particularly in childhood, are required to guide myopia interventions.
The axial length of myopic eyes increases rapidly in childhood, and there is a minimal increase in the axial length in non-myopic eyes after 18 years of age.
有治疗方法可以减缓近视的眼轴伸长。了解正常眼轴（AL）分布将有助于临床医生为近视选择合适的治疗方法。我们报告了不同年龄组和屈光不正的澳大利亚人 AL 的分布情况。
回顾性收集了来自 8 项澳大利亚研究的 5938 名 5 至 89 岁个体的等效球镜（SER）和 AL 数据。根据 SER，参与者被分为正视、近视和远视。对横断面数据应用两种回归模型参数化（分段和限制性立方样条[RCS]）来分析年龄与 AL 之间的关系。这些结果与 Raine 研究的纵向数据进行了比较，该研究在 20 岁（基线）和 28 岁时测量了 AL。
分段回归模型（有 1 个结）显示，与正视眼和远视眼相比，近视者在 18 岁前的 AL 增加更快，每年增加 0.119 毫米（P<0.001），18 岁后每年增加 0.011 毫米（P<0.001），而 RCS 模型（有 3 个结）显示出类似的结果。Raine 研究的纵向数据显示，与正视眼相比，只有近视者在年轻成年期的 AL 发生了显著变化（每年增加 0.016 毫米，P<0.001）。
近视眼的 AL 在儿童期增长较快，在成年早期略有增长。需要进一步研究 AL 的纵向变化，特别是在儿童期，以指导近视干预。
Hu Y, Zlateva G, Mak M, et al. Axial length growth in Australians: cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses from 8 Australian studies. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2023;64(6):10. [PubMed]
