SynthesisBMC ophthalmology2024
Efficacy of Repeated Low-Level Red Light (RLRL) therapy on myopia outcomes in children: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Synthesis in BMC ophthalmology, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 24 papers, 6 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
24 citing papers in PubMed, 6 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 25 citations in OpenAlex.
- Duration-Dependent Efficacy and Clinical Safety of Repeated Low-Level Red-Light Therapy for Paediatric Myopia: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Clinical & experimental ophthalmology · 2026Pooled it
- Efficacy of repeated low-level red-light therapy for myopia management in children and adolescents: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC ophthalmology · 2026Pooled it
- Efficacy of spectacle lenses specifically designed for myopia control: systematic review and meta-analysis.Graefe's archive for clinical and experimental ophthalmology = Albrecht von Graefes Archiv fur klinische und experimentelle Ophthalmologie · 2025Pooled it
- Effects of repeated low-level red light on refractive development during childhood: a systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis up to 12 months.Frontiers in medicine · 2025Pooled it
- Effects of repeated low-level red light therapy on myopia progression in children: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in medicine · 2025Pooled it
- Light Therapy for Myopia Prevention and Control: A Systematic Review on Effectiveness, Safety, and Implementation.Translational vision science & technology · 2024Pooled it
- Slowing myopia progression with cylindrical annular refractive elements (CARE) spectacle lenses-Year 1 results from a 2-year prospective, multi-centre trial.Acta ophthalmologica · 2025Trial
- Near-infrared light-induced transcranial photobiomodulation enhances the visual pathway's function in healthy volunteers.Journal of biomedical optics · 2025Trial
- A Mixed-Methods Investigation of Myopia Management Practices Among Eye Care Practitioners in China.Ophthalmology and therapy · 2026Article
- Non-Pharmacological and Non-Optical Interventions for Myopia Prevention and Control in Children: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Evaluating the Effect on Emmetropization of the Timing and Spectrum of Breaks From a Myopiagenic Environment.Investigative ophthalmology & visual science · 2026Article
- Orthokeratology and retinal risk: a new dimension in myopia control.Translational pediatrics · 2026Article
- A natural experiment in school lighting: observational evidence linking far-red light exposure to slower myopia progression in Chinese Uyghur schoolchildren.BMC public health · 2026Observational
- Ocular Transmission of Red and Violet Light: Insights into Light-Based Myopia Therapies.Translational vision science & technology · 2026Article
- Effect of Repeated Medium-Dose Red Laser Irradiation on Ocular Tissues in Guinea Pigs.Investigative ophthalmology & visual science · 2026Article
- Comparison of posterior scleral reinforcement surgery and repeated low-level red-light therapy in controlling high and super high myopia in Chinese children.International journal of ophthalmology · 2026Article
- Repeated low-intensity red light combined with defocus-incorporated multiple segments (DIMS) spectacles for controlling myopia progression in children.American journal of translational research · 2026Article
- Effect of repeated Low-Level red light therapy on axial length in myopic individuals: predictors for a good response.BMC ophthalmology · 2025Article
- Establishment and validation of a prognostic model for controlling adolescents' myopia progression through repeated low-level red-light therapy.American journal of translational research · 2025Article
- Repeated low-intensity red light therapy for childhood myopia: a retrospective cohort study.American journal of translational research · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundMyopia is the most prevalent form of refractive error that has a major negative impact on visual function and causes blurring of vision. We aimed to determine if Repeated Low-Level Red Light (RLRL) treatment is beneficial in treating childhood myopia in terms of axial length (AL), spherical equivalent refraction (SER), and sub foveal choroidal thickness (SFCT).
methodsThis systematic review was performed on RLRL for treatment of myopia in children compared to single vision spectacles (SVS). We employed the search strategy with key terms myopia and low-level light therapy then we searched PubMed, Scopus, Cochrane, and Web of Science databases. The mean differences (MD) were used to evaluate the treatment effects. Heterogeneity was quantified using I
resultsFive randomized controlled trials (RCTs) were included in our meta-analysis with a total of 833 patients, 407 in treatment group and 426 in control group. At a 3 month follow up period, pooled studies show a statistical difference in AL between RLRL and SVS group (MD = -0.16; 95% CI [-0.19, -0.12], SER (MD = 0.33; 95% CI [0.27, 0.38]), and SFCT (MD = 43.65; 95% CI [23.72, 45.58]). At a 6 month follow up period, pooled studies show a statistical difference in AL between RLRL and SVS group (MD = -0.21; 95% CI [-0.28, -0.15]), SER (MD = 0.46; 95% CI [0.26, 0.65]), and SFCT (MD = 25.07; 95% CI [18.18, 31.95]). At a 12 month follow up period, pooled studies show a statistical difference in AL between RLRL and SVS group (MD = -0.31; 95% CI [-0.42, -0.19]) and SER (MD = 0.63; 95% CI [0.52, 0.73]).
conclusionThis is the first systematic review and meta-analysis investigating only RCTs evidence supporting the efficacy of 650 nm RLRL for myopia control in the short term of 3, 6, and 12 months follow up. The present review revealed the clinical significance of RLRL as a new alternative treatment for myopia control with good user acceptability and no documented functional or structural damage. However, the effect of long-term RLRL treatment and the rebound effect after cessation require further investigations.
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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.