Efficacy of Repeated Low-Level Red Light in the Prevention and Control of Myopia among Children and Adolescents

To evaluate the efficacy of repeated low-intensity red light (RLRL), orthokeratology (ortho-k) lenses, and defocus spectacle lenses in controlling axial length (AL) elongation in children and adolescents with myopia. Prospective randomised controlled trial. Place and Duration of the Study: Ophthalmology Centre of Heilongjiang Hospital of Beijing Children's Hospital, Harbin, China, from January 2023 to May 2024. A total of 128 myopic children aged 6-18 years were enrolled and randomly assigned to the RLRL group (43 cases), the ortho-k lens group (43 cases), and the defocus spectacle lens group (42 cases). Changes in AL were observed at baseline and at the one-year follow-up. There were no significant differences in age, AL, and refractive error among the three groups at baseline (p >0.05). Follow-up showed that the RLRL group had significantly better AL control efficacy at three months, six months, and one year compared to the ortho-k lens group and the defocus spectacle lens group (***p <0.001). Subgroup analysis revealed no significant impact of gender, age, and myopia severity on the changes of AL (p >0.05), confirming the universal applicability of RLRL treatment in inhibiting AL elongation. RLRL outperforms ortho-k lenses and defocus spectacle lenses in controlling AL elongation in myopic children, demonstrating promising clinical application prospects. In future, large-sample, multicentre, long-term follow-up studies are needed to verify its efficacy. Myopia, Repeated low-intensity red light, Orthokeratology lenses, Defocus spectacle lenses.