The prevalence and severity of refractive and corneal astigmatism in children rose after the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a study published in JAMA Ophthalmology.
Ka Wai Kam, MSc, and colleagues wrote that lifestyle changes during the pandemic led to an increase in myopia, and two studies in Hong Kong explored the impact on refractive astigmatism because of the association between myopia and astigmatism.
“There were no data on the changes of corneal component of astigmatism, which might also be related to an increase in [refractive astigmatism],” the authors wrote. “Furthermore,