Real‐world efficacy of plano lenses with highly aspherical lenslets in children with pre‐myopia: A prospective cohort study

Abstract Purpose To assess the efficacy of plano lenses (PLs) with highly aspherical lenslets (HALs) in controlling axial length (AL) progression in pre‐myopic children. Methods This prospective cohort study enrolled 103 children aged 6–12 years with a spherical equivalent refraction (SE) between −0.50 and +0.75 D. Participants were assigned to either a treatment group wearing PLs with HALs or a control group receiving no intervention. AL and SE were measured at baseline (V0), 3 months (V1), 6 months (V2) and 12 months (V3). Monthly changes in AL were calculated for V0–V1, V1–V2 and V2–V3 intervals. Repeated measures–ANOVA was performed to analyse AL changes across time intervals within and between groups. Results A total of 95 children (8.0 ± 1.4 years) completed the study, with 46 in the treatment group and 49 in the control group. After 12 months, the treatment group showed significantly less myopic progression (0.13 ± 0.12 D) compared with the control group (0.43 ± 0.16 D; p < 0.01). AL elongation was also lower in the treatment group than in the control group (0.16 ± 0.16 mm vs. 0.30 ± 0.16 mm; p < 0.001). Monthly AL changes remained consistently lower in the treatment group across all intervals. In the treatment group, the monthly AL change was notably lower in V0–V1 than in either V1–V2 or V2–V3, whereas there were no comparable significant differences in the control group. Conclusion PL/HALs can effectively control AL growth in pre‐myopic children, with the most significant impact occurring within the first 3 months of wear.