Authors of a three-year real-world study published by the British Journal of Ophthalmology said repeated low-level red-light (RLRL) therapy showed promising long-term efficacy and safety for myopia control among Chinese myopic children and adolescents.  

Among the 362 participants (7–18 years), 90 were treated for six months to a year, 91 for 1–2 years, 90 for 2–3 years and 91 for more than three years. 

The satisfactory myopia control rate (defined as annual axial elongation ≤0.10mm) was 72.53% in those receiving ≥3 years of RLRL treatment, with a mean annual axial length change of 0.06mm/year.  

Importantly, no visual function damage was documented by best-corrected visual acuity and no treatment duration-dependent changes in objective full-field electroretinogram were observed. A minimal, reversible OCT change not impacting visual function was noted in four eyes, which may represent transient metabolic changes related to RLRL’s mechanism, hypothesised authors. This underlines future research is required to understand the underlying mechanisms of RLRL therapy, they said. 

Co-authors Dr Lisa Zhuoting Zhu, senior research fellow at the Centre for Eye Research Australia, University of Melbourne, and Dr Mingguang He, professor of ophthalmology at the University of Melbourne and the Sun Yat-sen University in China, declared a conflict of interest as Eyerising Ltd’s director of clinical development and director/shareholder, respectively.