Axial Length and Myopia

Axial length is commonly greater in people with myopia rather than that in hyperopes and myopees [44].
Main idea: axial length is greater in myopia with older or ? (by age)

Axial length is one of important ocular biometry in the occurrence of myopia for it is larger in myopic
people than other refractive status such as emmetropia and hyperopia [44]. Axial length is various by age
and gender across refractive status. In emmetropia, in myopia, Due to its high correlated with myopia,
term of myopia is divided into low axial myopia and high axial myopia. Low myopia has axial length of
approximately 24 mm and high axial myopia has 30 mm.

People with early onset myopia experience greater ocular changes than those in late onset myopia.
Earlier and recent study have consistent findings related to this issue. Grosvenor and Scott in 1991
indicated that people with youth onset myopia has greater axial length than those with early-adult-onset
myopia [45]. More recent study also reported that the larger increase of axial length is observed in
people with early onset myopia than late onset myopia. Moreover, increase of axial elongation is greater
in children with early onset myopia and in those with progressing myopia compared to late onset
myopia, stable myopia, and emmetropic children [46]. It is suggested that axial elongation tends larger in
people with active ocular development, especially children.

Less study investigate axial length of early school children related to their common activities.

As mentioned above that ocular growth is faster in myopic during eye development, the critical question
is what age is the ocular growth tends larger in myopic children. Study by Myopic children with age
under 10 years have shorter AXL than those in the age of 11-20 years, and slightly become shorter in the
following ages [44]. Study in Chinese children also reported the same pattern which axial length in
children aged 7 years has shorter axial length than children aged 14 years (22.72 0.76 mm vs. 24.39
1.13 mm) and reported myopia prevalence was higher in those with older age [46]. Children aged 4-18
was also reported longer axial length with age and axial myopia prevalence was reported >10% among
16-year-old children [48]. Moreover, important thing from the changing axial length is the substantial
increase of axial length between age period 0-10 and 11-20 [44].

Once myopia develop in early onset, the increasing axial length are also observed.

The substantial higher of myopia prevalence in its association with refractive error in both 6-year-old and
12-year-old children [47] and also in other study in both 7-year-old and 14-year-old children [48] have
been well investigated.