Abstract:AIM: To evaluate the effects of the myopia prevention and control guidance station(MPCGS)on axial elongation in school-age children.
METHODS:This was a prospective cohort study.Students enrolled in Grades 1 to 3 of primary schools in Qingyang District, Chengdu, in the first half of 2022 who completed continuous follow-up from 2022 to 2025 were included in this study. Among them, three schools that implemented the MPCGS in 2023 were assigned to the intervention group, and another three schools in the same district without MPCGS served as the control group. The intervention group received the school-hospital-family integrated model for myopia prevention and control,while the control group only received routine vision screening without such intervention measures.Students were categorized into three groups based on their grade in 2022: Group A(Grade 1), Group B(Grade 2), and Group C(Grade 3). Comparisons were stratified by grade, with independent samples t-tests used for intergroup analyses of annual axial elongation(ΔAL)between the intervention and control groups, and repeated-measures ANOVA(Bonferroni-corrected post-hoc test)used for intervention group comparisons across different time points.
RESULTS:Totally 3 404 students were enrolled in this study, including 1 709 in the intervention group(897 males and 812 females, aged 7.64±0.88 y)and 1 695 in the control group(902 males and 793 females, aged 7.75±0.97 y). In the intervention group, there were 537 students in subgroup A(293 males and 244 females, aged 7.08±0.28 y), 721 in subgroup B(369 males and 352 females, aged 8.03±0.29 y), and 451 in subgroup C(235 males and 216 females, aged 9.07±0.30 y). In the control group, there were 559 students in subgroup A(295 males and 264 females, aged 7.05±0.28 y), 497 in subgroup B(269 males and 228 females, aged 8.04±0.30 y), and 639 in subgroup C(338 males and 301 females, aged 9.08±0.30 y). No significant differences were observed between the intervention and control groups within each grade(A, B, and C)at baseline age, sex, SE, AL, ΔSE(2022-2023), and ΔAL(2022-2023)(all P>0.05). During the first intervention year(2023-2024), intergroup comparisons revealed no significant differences in ΔAL between the intervention and control groups within Groups A, B, and C(all P>0.05). During the second intervention year(2024-2025), the intervention group showed significantly lower ΔAL than the control group within Groups A and B(PSymbol|@@0.001 and P=0.017, respectively), while no significant difference in ΔAL was detected in Group C(P=0.419). In the intervention group, there were significant differences in ΔAL at different time points among Groups A, B and C(all P<0.001). Compared with the first year before intervention, the ΔAL of each subgroup significantly decreased in the second year of intervention(all P<0.0167).
CONCLUSION:The implementation of the school-hospital-family integrated MPCGS model was associated with slowed axial elongation. This association exhibited a time-dependent cumulative effect and was more pronounced in lower-grade children(grades 1-2).
