Perceptions and barriers to accessing myopia management in the UK

Kearney, Stephanie, Coverdale, Sophie, Saunders, Cheralynn, Day, Mhairi, Rountree, Lindsay, Webber, Kathryn, Mallen, Edward and Ghorbani-Mojarrad, Neema 2024. Perceptions and barriers to accessing myopia management in the UK. Children 11 , 1490. 10.3390/children11121490

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Abstract

Background/Objectives: Perceptions and barriers to myopia management (MM) in childhood have not been fully explored within some countries, including the UK, where there is minimal public health education on myopia. Methods: The aim of this mixed-methods study was to explore perceptions of myopia and MM interventions using focus groups and a survey to obtain qualitative and quantitative data. Topics included the understanding of myopia, perceptions of MM, considerations when initiating MM, lifestyle risk factors, and barriers to uptake of intervention. Results: Parent awareness and understanding of myopia and MM is limited. Many parents felt that they had not been provided with sufficient explicit advice about their child’s diagnosis or treatment. Despite this, parents were aware of some of the protective lifestyle behaviours which may slow myopia progression. The common belief was that myopia can affect a child’s quality of life. The most common reason that MM had been recommended to parents by practitioners was to reduce disease risk. Conclusions: The cost and lack of public awareness that MM interventions are available were the main barriers to the uptake of MM. There is a need to improve practitioner communication of myopia and its management and, subsequently, improve the standard of children’s eyecare.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Schools > Optometry and Vision Sciences
Publisher:	MDPI
ISSN:	2227-9067
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	1 September 2026
Date of Acceptance:	4 December 2024
Last Modified:	01 Sep 2026 14:11
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/189313

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