Two-year outcomes of repeated red-light therapy in pre-myopic children: sustained efficacy and rebound effects
Reviewed by Jonathan Chan

This was the extended second year phase of the prospective , parallel-group, randomised, clinical trial, to evaluate the long-term prevention effectiveness and rebound effect of repeated red light therapy (RRLT) in children with pre-myopia over 2 years. A total of 108 pre-myopic children (cycloplegia spherical equivalent refraction (SER): -0.5 to +0.75D) were enrolled and followed for 24 months. They were randomised into the RRLT group, with RRLT 2 times per day for 3 minutes per session with at least a 4-hour interval, or the control group. At the beginning of the second year, the RRLT group were further randomised into the continued treatment and the washout subgroups. Axial length (AL) and SER and subfoveal choroidal thickness (SChT) were measured. The authors reported that the 2-year RRLT intervention effectively retarded AL elongation and SER progression in pre-myopic children by 0.17mm and -0.45D, respectively. After RRLT cessation in the second year, the washout subgroup exhibited significantly faster AL elongation and more SChT thinning than the controls, with no significant difference in SER progression.

Two-year outcomes of repeated red light therapy in premyopic children: sustained efficacy and rebound effects.
Liu G, Li N, Rong H, et al. 
BRITISH JOURNAL OF OPHTHALMOLOGY
2026;110(5):536–42.