ArticleInvestigative ophthalmology & visual science2020
The Spatial Frequency Content of Urban and Indoor Environments as a Potential Risk Factor for Myopia Development.
Article in Investigative ophthalmology & visual science, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 69 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
69 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 112 citations in OpenAlex.
- Myopia management algorithm. Annexe to the article titled Update and guidance on management of myopia. European Society of Ophthalmology in cooperation with International Myopia Institute.European journal of ophthalmology · 2024Guideline
- Unhealthy Lifestyles and Retinal Vessel Calibers among Children and Adolescents: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Nutrients · 2022Pooled it
- Human Myopia: Past, Present and Future.Ophthalmic & physiological optics : the journal of the British College of Ophthalmic Opticians (Optometrists) · 2026Review
- Urban-Rural and School-Type Disparities in the Prevalence of Myopia and High Myopia in South India.Ophthalmic & physiological optics : the journal of the British College of Ophthalmic Opticians (Optometrists) · 2026Article
- Myopia Prevalence, Ocular Metrics and Visual Activity in United States Optometry Students.Ophthalmic & physiological optics : the journal of the British College of Ophthalmic Opticians (Optometrists) · 2026Article
- Spectacle lenses for control of myopia progression in children.Ophthalmic & physiological optics : the journal of the British College of Ophthalmic Opticians (Optometrists) · 2026Review
- Short-Term Effects of Optically Induced and Digitally Simulated Myopic Blur on Retinal Perfusion: Insights From Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography.Investigative ophthalmology & visual science · 2026Article
- Effects of Myopia Control Spectacle Lenses on Peripheral Refraction and Contrast: Insights From Optical Modeling.Investigative ophthalmology & visual science · 2026Article
- Review
- Optically Induced Peripheral Contrast Reduction Restores ON/OFF Pathway Balance in Myopic Eyes.Ophthalmology science · 2026Article
- Using deep learning to explore the impacts of street-view green space on school myopia prevalence: a multicenter, cross-sectional study.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Short-term exposure to cyan light attenuates myopigenic effects of hyperopic defocus on ocular biometry in humans.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Shorter Viewing Distance Reduces Contrast in Man-Made Environments.Ophthalmology science · 2026Article
- The global landscape of myopia prevalence and its social determinants in children and adolescents: a cross-regional analysis.Frontiers in ophthalmology · 2026Article
- Effect of a longpass filter on myopic defocus-induced changes in axial length and choroid thickness.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2026Article
- IMI: The Role of Light in Refractive Development and Myopia: Evidence from Animal and Human Studies.Investigative ophthalmology & visual science · 2025Review
- Blue Light Defocus Induces A Positive Effect on Refractive Status and Ocular Health: A Randomized Crossover Trial.Global challenges (Hoboken, NJ) · 2025Article
- IMI-Interventions for Controlling Myopia Onset and Progression 2025.Investigative ophthalmology & visual science · 2025Review
- IMI-2025 Digest.Investigative ophthalmology & visual science · 2025Article
- The Distribution of Spatial Contrast in Manmade Environments Produces Regional Visual Form Deprivation.Investigative ophthalmology & visual science · 2025Article
9 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Purpose: To examine the hypothesis that the spatial frequency spectra of urban and indoor environments differ from the natural environment in ways that may promote the development of myopia. Methods: A total of 814 images were analyzed from three datasets; University of California Berkeley (UCB), University of Texas (UT), and Botswana (UPenn). Images were processed in Matlab (Mathworks Inc) to map the camera color characteristics to human cone sensitivities. From the photopic luminance images generated, two-dimensional spatial frequency (SF) spectra were calculated and converted to one-dimensional spectra by rotational averaging. The spatial filtering profile of a 0.4 Bangerter foil, which has been shown to induce myopia experimentally, was also determined. Results: The SF slope for natural scenes followed the recognized 1/fα relationship with mean slopes of -1.08, -0.90, and -1.04 for the UCB, UT and UPenn image sets, respectively. Indoor scenes had a significantly steeper slope (-1.48, UCB; -1.52, UT; P < 0.0001). Urban environments showed an intermediate slope (-1.29, UCB; -1.22, UT) that was significantly different from the slopes derived from the natural scenes (P < 0.0001). The change in SF content between natural outdoor scenes and indoors was comparable to that induced by a 0.4 Bangerter foil, which reduced the SF slope of a natural scene from -0.88 to -1.47. Conclusions: Compared to natural outdoor images, man-made outdoor and indoor environments have spatial frequency characteristics similar to those known to induce form-deprivation myopia in animal models. The spatial properties of the man-made environment may be one of the missing drivers of the human myopia epidemic.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.