A US retrospective real-world review comparing the efficacy of soft peripheral defocus contact lenses (PDCLs) and ortho-k found no difference in annual axial length (AL) growth between the two interventions.  

Authors also noted AL progression in the clinical setting was consistent with that reported in randomised clinical trials.  

On average, the children included in the review (77,273 visits) were 10.7 years of age at baseline and most patients were female. More Asian children wore ortho-k lenses compared with PDCLs. At baseline, children had about -3.00D of myopia and 0.75D of astigmatism in both treatment groups. Statistical analysis showed no difference in annualised change in AL between treatments, with or without the inclusion of age, race, sex, baseline AL or spherical equivalent refractive error. Across all possible subsets of models, age at baseline was the best predictor of annualised AL change, they said.  

Continued research of real-world performance is warranted to understand the safety and efficacy of myopia control treatments in the broader population, they concluded.