{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,7]],"date-time":"2026-07-07T12:13:30Z","timestamp":1783426410225,"version":"3.54.6"},"reference-count":18,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,7]],"date-time":"2026-07-07T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1783382400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Med."],"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Pre-myopia is a critical stage before myopia onset, yet little is known about how age influences axial elongation during the transition from pre-myopia to myopia. This study aimed to investigate the effect of age on annual axial elongation during this 1\u202fyear conversion period.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>This retrospective study included 53 children (53 right eyes) aged 6\u201310\u202fyears who progressed from pre-myopia (spherical equivalent refraction \u2264\u202f+\u202f0.75 D and &amp;gt;\u202f\u2212\u202f0.50 D) to myopia (\u2264\u202f\u2212\u202f0.50 D) within 1\u202fyear. Annual axial elongation (\u0394AL) was calculated as the absolute change in axial length over 1\u202fyear. Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was performed with \u0394AL as the dependent variable, age group (6\u20139\u202fyears) as a fixed factor, and baseline axial length and baseline spherical equivalent refraction as covariates. Pairwise comparisons were adjusted using the Bonferroni method. Age was further dichotomized into 6\u20137\u202fyears and 8\u20139\u202fyears for subgroup analysis, and also analyzed as a continuous variable using multiple linear regression.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      Annual axial elongation decreased with increasing age: 0.76\u202f\u00b1\u202f0.16\u202fmm (6y), 0.64\u202f\u00b1\u202f0.17\u202fmm (7y), 0.54\u202f\u00b1\u202f0.24\u202fmm (8y), 0.37\u202f\u00b1\u202f0.14\u202fmm (9y), and 0.38\u202f\u00b1\u202f0.03\u202fmm (10y). After adjusting for baseline ocular biometrics, ANCOVA revealed a significant main effect of age on \u0394AL [\n                      <jats:italic>F<\/jats:italic>\n                      (3, 45)\u202f=\u202f3.689,\n                      <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\n                      \u202f=\u202f0.019, partial \u03b7\n                      <jats:sup>2<\/jats:sup>\n                      \u202f=\u202f0.197]. Bonferroni-corrected comparisons showed that children aged 6 and 7\u202fyears exhibited significantly greater axial elongation than those aged 9\u202fyears (mean differences\u202f=\u202f0.391\u202fmm and 0.271\u202fmm, respectively; both\n                      <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\n                      \u202f&amp;lt;\u202f0.01). In the dichotomized comparison, the 6\u20137-year group had significantly greater \u0394AL than the 8\u20139-year group (0.653\u202fmm vs. 0.499\u202fmm,\n                      <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\n                      \u202f=\u202f0.009). When analyzed as a continuous predictor, each additional year of age was associated with a 0.093\u202fmm decrease in annual axial elongation [\n                      <jats:italic>\u03b2<\/jats:italic>\n                      \u202f=\u202f\u22120.093, 95% CI (\u22120.150, \u22120.035),\n                      <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\n                      \u202f=\u202f0.002].\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Among children who converted from pre-myopia to myopia within 1\u202fyear, younger age was associated with greater axial elongation. These findings highlight the importance of early surveillance and preventive strategies in the pre-myopic stage, particularly for children aged 6\u20137\u202fyears. Larger prospective studies controlling for environmental and familial risk factors are needed.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fmed.2026.1872078","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,7]],"date-time":"2026-07-07T11:13:52Z","timestamp":1783422832000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["The influence of age in the progression from pre-myopia to myopia onset: a 1\u202fyear retrospective analysis"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"13","author":[{"given":"Shuang","family":"Wang","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Ophthalmology, Chengdu Third People\u2019s Hospital, Affiliated Hospital of Southwest Jiaotong University","place":["Chengdu, Sichuan, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Keke","family":"Huang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Ophthalmology, Chengdu Third People\u2019s Hospital, Affiliated Hospital of Southwest Jiaotong University","place":["Chengdu, Sichuan, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Xingyu","family":"He","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Ophthalmology, Chengdu Third People\u2019s Hospital, Affiliated Hospital of Southwest Jiaotong University","place":["Chengdu, Sichuan, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Zhanfeng","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Ophthalmology, Chengdu Third People\u2019s Hospital, Affiliated Hospital of Southwest Jiaotong University","place":["Chengdu, Sichuan, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,7]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref1","volume-title":"Myopia: Causes, Prevention, and Treatment of an Increasingly Common 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Medicine"],"original-title":[],"link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.frontiersin.org\/articles\/10.3389\/fmed.2026.1872078\/full","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,7]],"date-time":"2026-07-07T11:13:53Z","timestamp":1783422833000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.frontiersin.org\/articles\/10.3389\/fmed.2026.1872078\/full"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,7]]},"references-count":18,"alternative-id":["10.3389\/fmed.2026.1872078"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/fmed.2026.1872078","relation":{},"ISSN":["2296-858X"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2296-858X","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,7]]},"article-number":"1872078"}}