The Study
Global Prevalence of Myopia and High Myopia and Temporal Trends from 2000 through 2050
This study found that when kids' eyes focus on close things, their eyeballs get a tiny bit longer—but only while their eyes are working hard. It doesn't prove that this makes them nearsighted; it just shows that nearsighted kids' eyes change shape a little when they focus.
Analysis score
Maximum 44 for a cross-sectional study.
Where the score came from
When you look at something close, a muscle in your eye tightens. This study found that when that muscle tightens, your eyeball gets just a tiny bit longer — like stretching a balloon a little.
Where does this study sit?
Reviews of RCTs (Meta-analyses)
Max 100Randomized Trials
Max 90Reviews of Cohort Studies
Max 85Cohort Studies
Max 72Reviews of Case-Control Studies
Max 63Case-Control Studies
Max 58Cross-Sectional & Case Series
Max 50Expert Opinion
Max 544 / 100
Quality score
Snapshots of a population at a single point in time, or descriptions of small groups. Can identify correlations and prevalence, but cannot determine cause and effect.
Key takeaways
Summary
Based on the study abstract and findings.
- 1This change is too small to notice or affect vision directly, but it might be a clue to why some kids' eyes keep growing longer over years, leading to nearsightedness.
- 2When the eye muscle relaxed (after eye drops), the eyeball got 0.028 mm shorter — that’s about 1/35th the width of a human hair — in 90 out of 100 kids.
Score breakdown, methodology, conflicts of interest, evidence analysis & raw study data
Publication
Journal
Ophthalmology
Year
2016
Authors
Brien A. Holden, Timothy R. Fricke, David A. Wilson, Monica Jong, Kovin S. Naidoo, Padmaja Sankaridurg, Tien Y. Wong, Thomas J. Naduvilath, Serge Resnikoff
Related Content
Claims (6)
Extended close-up visual work without looking at distant objects leads to worsening nearsightedness due to continuous tension in the eye's focusing muscle and changes in eye shape.
The rise in nearsightedness over the past several decades is due to changes in the environment, not changes in human genes.
In children with myopia between ages 5 and 18, tightening of the ciliary muscle is linked to a small, temporary increase in the length of the eye by 0.028 millimeters, measured using optical biometry before and after pupil-dilating eye drops.
When the ciliary muscle contracts, it produces tension that directs force toward the back of the eye, which is associated with increased eye length in nearsighted individuals.
When the eye muscle that controls focus is relaxed using eye drops in children with nearsightedness, the length of the eye decreases by 0.028 millimeters on average, and this happens in 90.4% of eyes.
In children who already have myopia, the ciliary muscle shows a measurable mechanical relationship with eye length, but this study does not show that this relationship causes myopia to develop.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before making health decisions.