Cost of myopia correction: a systematic review

• Main Author: Foo, Li Lian
• Publication Date: 2021
• Other Authors: Lança, Carla, Wong, Chee Wai, Ting, Daniel, Lamoureux, Ecosse, Saw, Seang-Mei, Ang, Marcus
• Format: Article
• Language: eng
• Source: Repositórios Científicos de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (RCAAP)
• Download full: http://hdl.handle.net/10400.21/14096
• topic: Myopia; Health costs; Spectacles; Contact lenses; Refractive surgeries declaration

Myopia is one of the leading causes of visual impairment globally. Despite increasing prevalence and incidence, the associated cost of treatment remains unclear. Health care spending is a major concern in many countries and understanding the cost of myopia correction is the first step eluding to the overall cost of myopia treatment. As the cost of treatment will reduce the burden of the cost of illness, this will aid in future cost-benefit analysis and the allocation of healthcare resources, including considerations in integrating eye care (refractive correction with spectacles) into universal health coverage (UHC). We performed a systematic review to determine the economic costs of myopia correction. However, there were few studies for direct comparison. Costs related to myopia correction were mainly direct with few indirect costs. Annual prevalence-based direct costs for myopia ranged from $14-26 (USA), $56 (Iran), and $199 (Singapore) per capita, respectively (population: 274.63 million, 75.15 million, and 3.79 million, respectively). Annually, the direct costs of contact lens were $198.30-$378.10 while spectacles and refractive surgeries were $342.50 and $19.10, respectively. This review provides an insight into the cost of myopia correction. Myopia costs are high from nationwide perspectives because of the high prevalence of myopia, with contact lenses being the more expensive option. Without further interventions, the burden of illness of myopia will increase substantially with the projected increase in prevalence worldwide. Future studies will be necessary to generate more homogenous cost data and provide a complete picture of the global economic cost of myopia.