A case study of secondary school leaders' perceptions of attendance policies and procedures used to increase attendance

Field of study: Educational leadership and policy analysis.Dr. Carole A. Edmonds, Dissertation Supervisor.Includes vita."May 2018."Nationwide, pressures from outside influences such as politicians and educational policy makers are placing schools in precarious situations to make drastic changes in attendance policies to meet state accountability standards. The researcher used interviews and a focus group with school leaders, and archival data to find common themes which were then viewed through the conceptual underpinning of accountability. This case study adds to the field of education a deeper understanding of school leaders' perspectives on the impact attendance accountability standards have on the overall effectiveness of school improvement. The findings suggest: the new proportional attendance policy is detrimental to a school leaders' ability to focus on other school improvement practices while creating negative unintended consequences for schools and students; incentives and punitive consequences have short-term success while decaying school-family relationships; and district-wide and community awareness programs seemed to have the greatest impact on long term attendance improvement. Based on these findings, the following three practices should be implemented by districts: Systematic monitoring of attendance data, the use of low cost incentives and simple rewards, and the implementation of district-wide engagement and education of family and community awareness programs.Includes bibliographical references (pages 135-145)

The Future of Clinical Trials of Myopia Control

In the field of myopia control, effective optical or pharmaceutical therapies are now available to patients in many markets. This creates challenges for the conduct of placebo-controlled, randomised clinical trials, including ethics, recruitment, retention, selective loss of faster progressors and non-protocol treatments: 1. Ethics: It is valid to question whether withholding treatment in control subjects is ethical. 2. Recruitment: Availability of treatments is making recruitment into clinical trials more difficult. 3. Retention: If masking is not possible, parents may immediately withdraw their child if randomised to no treatment. 4. Selective loss: Withdrawal of fast progressors in the control group leading to a control group biased towards low progression. 5. Non-protocol treatment: Parents may access other myopia treatments in addition to those within the trial. We propose that future trials may adopt one of the following designs: A Non-inferiority trials using an approved drug or device as the control. The choice will depend on whether a regulatory agency has approved the drug or device. B Short conventional efficacy trials where data are subsequently entered into a model created from previous clinical trials, which allows robust prediction of long-term treatment efficacy from the initial efficacy. C Virtual control group trials based on data relating to axial elongation, myopia progression or both, accounting for subject\u27s age and race. D Short-term control data from a cohort, for example, 1 year or less, and applying an appropriate, proportional annual reduction in axial elongation to that population and extrapolating to subsequent years. E Time-to- treatment- failure trials using survival analysis; once a treated or control subject progresses or elongates by a given amount, they exit the study and can be offered treatment. In summary, the future development of new treatments in myopia control will be hampered if significant changes are not made to the design of clinical trials in this area

Low concentration atropine and myopia: a narrative review of the evidence for United Kingdom based practitioners

The prevalence of myopia is increasing across the world. Controlling myopia progression would be beneficial to reduce adverse outcomes such as retinal detachment and myopic maculopathy which are associated with increased axial length. Pharmacological control of myopia progression with atropine has been investigated since the 19th century and the benefits of slowing myopia progression are considered against the side-effects of near blur and photophobia. More recently, randomised trials have focused on determining the optimum concentration of atropine leading to low-concentration atropine being used to manage myopia progression by practitioners across the world. Currently, in the United Kingdom, there is no licensed pharmacological intervention for myopia management. The aim of this review is to interpret the available data to inform clinical practice. We conducted a narrative review of the literature and identified peer-reviewed randomised controlled trials using the search terms 'myopia' and 'atropine', limited to the English language. We identified two key studies, which were the Atropine in the Treatment Of Myopia (ATOM) and Low-concentration Atropine for Myopia Progression (LAMP). Further studies were identified using the above search terms and the references from the identified literature. Atropine 0.01% has a modest effect on controlling axial length progression. Atropine 0.05% appears to be superior to atropine 0.01% in managing myopia progression. There is a dose-dependent rebound effect when treatment is stopped. Atropine is a well-tolerated, safe, and effective intervention. Treatment would be needed for several years and into adolescence, until axial length progression is stable. [Abstract copyright: © 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to The Royal College of Ophthalmologists.

The Risks and Benefits of Myopia Control

The prevalence of myopia is increasing around the world, stimulating interest in 3 methods to slow its progression. The primary justification for slowing myopia progression is to 4 reduce the risk of vision loss through sight-threatening ocular pathology in later life. The paper 5 analyzes whether the potential benefits of slowing myopia progression by one diopter justify the 6 potential risks associated with treatments

Progression of myopia in teenagers and adults: a nationwide longitudinal study of a prevalent cohort

Background- The prevalence of myopia is increasing worldwide. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the progression of myopia in teenagers and adults in France. Methods- This nationwide prospective study followed 630 487 myopic adults and teenagers (mean age 43.4 years±18.2, 59.8% of women) between January 2013 and January 2019. Myopia and high myopia were defined as a spherical equivalent less than or equal to –0.50 and –6.00 diopters (D), respectively. Demographic data were collected at first visit and refractive characteristics were collected at each visit. Analysis of short-term progression (first 12 to 26 months postbaseline) was modelled using analysis of variance (ANOVA). Progression of myopia was stratified according to age, gender and spherical equivalent at first visit. Results- Higher proportions of progressors were observed in the youngest age groups: 14–15 (18.2 %) and 16–17 years old (13.9 %). In multivariate analysis, after adjustment for over age, spherical equivalent and gender, the mean short-term progression decreased from –0.36 D in the 14–15 years age group to –0.13 D in the 28–29 years age group. Young age and higher myopia at baseline together were strongly associated with the risk of developing high myopia, the 5-year cumulative risk being 76% for youngest teenager with higher myopia status at baseline. Conclusion- In this large cohort of myopic teenagers and adults, myopia progression was reported in 18.2% and 13.9% of the 14–15 and 16–17 age groups, respectively. The risk to develop high myopia was higher for younger individuals with higher myopia at baseline examination

Progression of myopia in children and teenagers: a nationwide longitudinal study

Background: Data on myopia prevalence and progression in European children are sparse. The aim of this work was to evaluate the progression of myopia in children and teenagers in a large prospective study. Methods: A prospective study involving a nationwide cohort. Myopia was defined as a spherical equivalent (SE) of ≤ –0.50 diopters (D). Data on refractive error, gender and age were collected in 696 optical centres in France between 2013 and 2019, including 136 333 children (4–17 years old) in the analysis. Progression of myopia was assessed between the first visit and the last visit over up to 6.5 years. Results: Mean age was 11.3±3.8 years (55.0% of female). The proportion of children progressing more than –0.50 D per year was higher in age groups 7–9 years and 10–12 years and in children with SE ≤ –4.00 D at first visit, representing 33.1%, 29.4% and 30.0% of these groups, respectively. In multivariate analysis, progression during the first 11–24 months was higher in the 7–9 and 10–12 age groups (–0.43 D and –0.42 D, respectively), for higher SE at baseline (at least –0.33 D for SE ≤ –1 D) and for girls (–0.35 D). Conclusion: This is the first French epidemiological study to investigate myopia progression in a large-scale cohort of children. Sex, age groups and myopia severity are associated with differing rates of progression

IMI-Onset and Progression of Myopia in Young Adults

Myopia typically starts and progresses during childhood, but onset and progression can occur during adulthood. The goals of this review are to summarize published data on myopia onset and progression in young adults, aged 18 to 40 years, to characterize myopia in this age group, to assess what is currently known, and to highlight the gaps in the current understanding. Specifically, the peer-reviewed literature was reviewed to: characterize the timeline and age of stabilization of juvenile-onset myopia; estimate the frequency of adult-onset myopia; evaluate the rate of myopia progression in adults, regardless of age of onset, both during the college years and later; describe the rate of axial elongation in myopic adults; identify risk factors for adult onset and progression; report myopia progression and axial elongation in adults who have undergone refractive surgery; and discuss myopia management and research study design. Adult-onset myopia is common, representing a third or more of all myopia in western populations, but less in East Asia, where onset during childhood is high. Clinically meaningful myopia progression continues in early adulthood and may average 1.00 diopters (D) between 20 and 30 years. Higher levels of myopia are associated with greater absolute risk of myopia-related ocular disease and visual impairment, and thus myopia in this age group requires ongoing management. Modalities established for myopia control in children would be options for adults, but it is difficult to predict their efficacy. The feasibility of studies of myopia control in adults is limited by the long duration required.</p

BCLA CLEAR Presbyopia: Definitions

Presbyopia is often the first sign of ageing experienced by humans. Standardising terminology and adopting it across the BCLA CLEAR Presbyopia reports, improves consistency in the communication of the evidence-based understanding of this universal physiological process. Presbyopia can be functionally and psychologically debilitating, especially for those with poor access to eyecare. Presbyopia was defined as occurring when the physiologically normal age-related reduction in the eye's focusing range reaches a point that, when optimally corrected for far vision, the clarity of vision at near is insufficient to satisfy an individual's requirements. Accommodation is the change in optical power of the eye due to a change in crystalline lens shape and position, whereas pseudo-accommodation is the attainment of functional near vision in an emmetropic or far-corrected eye without changing the refractive power of the eye. Other definitions specific to vision and lenses for presbyopia were also defined. It is recommended that these definitions be consistently adopted in order to standardise future research, clinical evaluations and education

IMI : global trends in myopia management attitudes and strategies in clinical practice : 2022 update

PURPOSE. Surveys in 2015 and 2019 identified a high level of eye care practitioner concern/activity about myopia, but the majority still prescribed single vision interventions to young myopes. This research aimed to provide updated information. METHODS. A self-administered, internet-based questionnaire was distributed in 13 languages, through professional bodies to eye care practitioners globally. The questions examined awareness of increasing myopia prevalence, perceived efficacy and adoption of available strategies, and reasons for not adopting specific strategies. RESULTS. Of the 3195 respondents, practitioners’ concern about the increasing frequency of pediatric myopia in their practices differed between continents (P < 0.001), being significantly higher in Asia (9.0 ± 1.5 of 10) than other continents (range 7.7–8.2; P ≤ 0.001). Overall, combination therapy was perceived by practitioners to be the most effective method of myopia control, followed by orthokeratology and pharmaceutical approaches. The least effective perceived methods were single vision distance undercorrection, spectacles and contact lenses, as well as bifocal spectacles. Practitioners rated their activity in myopia control between (6.6 ± 2.9 in South America to 7.9 ± 1.2/2.2 in Australasia and Asia). Single-vision spectacles are still the most prescribed option for progressing young myopia (32.2%), but this has decreased since 2019, and myopia control spectacles (15.2%), myopia control contact lenses (8.7%) and combination therapy (4.0%) are growing in popularity. CONCLUSIONS. More practitioners across the globe are practicing myopia control, but there are still significant differences between and within continents. Practitioners reported that embracing myopia control enhanced patient loyalty, increasing practice revenue and improving job satisfaction