Effects of online family health education on myopia prevention in children by parental myopia: a randomized clinical trial

Abstract

ABSTRACT Clinical relevance Online family health education may be effective for myopia prevention in children, and the effects may be different between children with myopic and non-myopic parents. Background Myopia is a common cause of vision loss. The aims of this study were to evaluate the effects of online family health education on preventing the development of myopia in children, and to estimate whether the effects vary according to parental myopia. Methods A cluster randomised trial including grade 1 and grade 2 children from 12 primary schools was conducted in Guangzhou, China. Weekly online family health education messages were sent to parents in the intervention group. Data collection included eye examinations of children and questionnaires completed by parents. Results Among the 3123 children included at baseline (1703 boys [54.5%]; mean [SD] age, 6.83 [0.73] years), 2376 completed the follow-up after 3 years. The differences in the incidence of myopia and myopic shift between the study groups were not significant in total. However, the 3-year cumulative incidence rate of myopia in the intervention group (125 of 445 [28.1%]) was significantly lower than that in the control group (225 of 603 [37.3%]; difference, 9.2% [95% CI, −14.9% to −3.5%]; P = 0.001) among children with non-myopic parents. In parallel, among children with non-myopic parents, the mean myopic change in SER was less for the intervention group than for the control group (−1.10 D vs. −1.24 D; difference, 0.13 D [95% CI, 0.03 to 0.23 D]; P = 0.01). Conclusions Compared with children with myopic parents, online family health education was more effective in children with non-myopic parents. The incidence of myopia and myopic shift in refraction have been reduced in children with non-myopic parents. Further studies are needed to assess these differences by parental myopia.