Progresión de la miopía en la infancia durante el confinamiento del COVID-19 en la Argentina

Abstract Purpose: To determine whether the progression of myopia in children was faster during school closures and home confinement during the COVID-19 pandemic.Methods: This was a case series study collecting retrospective data on refractive error for 2018 and 2019 in consecutive myopic patients attending regular checkups for their spectacle prescription from September to December 2020. Inclusion criteria were age from 5 to 18 years, and spherical equivalent between -0.50 and -6.00 diopters for the three examinations. Patients receiving any treatment for arresting myopia progression were excluded. Cycloplegic spherical equivalent in both eyes was recorded for 2018, 2019 and 2020. Annualized mean progressions over the two periods 2018-2019 and 2019-2020 were calculated.Results: At the 2020 visit after confinement, mean age of the 115 enrolled patients was 11.89 ± 3.68 years and 60% were girls. The mean annualized progression for the right eyes in 2018-2019 was -0.43 ± 0.52 D and -0.58 ± 0.53 D in 2019-2020 during the period that included home confinement (p=0·012, Wilcoxon text), an increase of 32%. The median values of progression for these two periods were -0.27 D and -0.53 D.Conclusion: Annual progression rates over the period that included strict pandemic home confinement were higher than in the previous year, in contrast to the general slowing of progression as children get older.